


Fire and Tiger: Secrets of the Past

by Pixelfun20



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: F/M, How Do I Tag, Not Canon Compliant - Omen of the Stars, brambleclaw is a good dad, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-15
Updated: 2020-01-29
Packaged: 2021-01-31 07:56:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,173
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21442822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelfun20/pseuds/Pixelfun20
Summary: Skyclan is thriving, and Hawkkit, son of Brambleclaw, and his siblings Firekit, Tawnykit and Featherkit, are bursting with energy, more than ready to become apprentices. However, a prophecy has been brewing under the guise of peace, and to save Skyclan, Hawkkit must unravel both himself and the greatest threat Skyclan has ever faced. Rewrite of Omen of the Stars
Relationships: Brambleclaw/Cherrytail (Warriors), Leafstar & Sharpclaw (Warriors), Ravenpaw & Barley (Warriors)
Kudos: 12





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-Posted from FF. I've already completed this, so updates will come every few days until we reach the sequel.
> 
> Original A/N:  
Oh hey, I've found another old Warriors story of mine. I started this in mid-2017, and upon stumbling across it once again a couple weeks ago, I've decided to try my hand at returning to it. Personally, I just love this concept.
> 
> This is a pretty big AU that actually separated from canon well before this story begins (just before/during Fading Echoes). Everything is canon up to Sunrise (which is when the big change takes place). There is an explanation to why things are so drastically different, but it will be a time in coming. Ages for the younger members of Skyclan will also be off, but that's the fault of 2017-me, not the AU.
> 
> Updates will be every week or so until we catch up with my writing. If you have any criticism (I did write this first part in 2017) or praise, please review! Have fun and thank you for reading!

The nearly full moon shone with a bright silver light in the night sky. Stars were splattered in the deep black around it, giving the earth below a sweet, silver sheen. Twoleg houses lined the earth, their insides quiet as the monsters slept silently on the Thunderpath.

On the side of said Thunderpath walked three cats. Leading them was a tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat, her sky-blue eyes alight with excitement. She bounded ahead of the two cats trailing her, sometimes getting far ahead before remembering the two behind her and slowing to a stop to let them catch up. She was on the thin side, but it was more than made up for with the strong muscles that rippled under her pelt.

In the middle was an unusually patterned she-cat, with short light brown fur and darker spots speckled over her back. Her light amber eyes glinted in the moonlight. She was slightly larger than the tortoiseshell she-cat, and carried the hints of an easy life with her limbs accented with traces of fat and a dark purple collar. She had a tired look in her eyes, but did not say anything, instead opting to drape her tail over the shoulders of the last cat.

Bringing up the rear of the small party was the largest one of the group, a heavily muscled brown tabby tom. However, he seemed to be faring the worst of the three. Several old scratches lined his pelt, mostly healed, save for a particularly nasty one that ran down the side of his flank. It was covered in cobwebs and a poultice of some kind, but was red and puffy, signalling the infection that plagued his body. He had a deep scar on his neck, and was out of breath, his dark amber eyes clouded with a dull pain. He did not complain, though, instead opting to bear his pain in silence as he pushed himself forward.

The tortoiseshell she-cat, finding herself in front of her two companions once again, lashed her tail, though more out of impatience than annoyance.

"Hurry up!" She announced, her voice dripping with excitement. "We're almost there! Just a little more!"

The spotted she-cat spared a glance at the tabby tom behind her, before turning her amber eyes on the tortoiseshell.

"You need to slow down, Cherrytail," she mewed worriedly. "We're all tired. I understand you're excited to get back, but you need to think of Brambleclaw. He's on the verge of collapse! Can't we find somewhere to shelter for the night?"

Cherrytail stopped completely, gasping as she bounded back to the two cats. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Brambleclaw!" She exclaimed. "In my impatience I completely forgot about your wound! Are you alright? We can find a place to stay if you need to stop."

The brown tabby—Brambleclaw—shook his head, his eyes lighting with a hint of stubbornness.

"No, I'm fine," he rasped, voice scratchy and hollow as the two caught up to her. "I know how much this means to you. We will get there tonight."

The spotted she-cat scoffed. "Not with that wound, you don't! I'm not letting you die this close to the finish. I didn't save your life back in the forest for nothing!"

"I think Eliza's right," Cherrytail sighed after a moment of hesitation, touching the tip of her tail to the scar Brambleclaw's neck, causing him to flinch away. "We can wait the night. In fact…" she looked up for a moment, thinking deeply, before grinning. "I think I know where we can stay! Come on!"

And with that she began walking again, despite Brambleclaw's (weak) protests, as well as at a slower rate. Eliza's ears perked up at the thought of rest, while the tom of the trio groaned, but followed his two companions as they turned down a side street. Passing by several Twoleg nests, they came across a medium-sized tan nest with neatly-cropped grass. Cherrytail flicked a tail, motioning for Brambleclaw and Eliza to stay where they were, and leaped up onto fence lining the yard, bounding around to the back.

After several tense moments between Brambleclaw and Eliza, both of whom seemed slightly confused about what Cherrytail was doing, a sharp screech sounded from the back, followed by loud barking. Brambleclaw's eyes widened, and he unsheathed his claws, readying himself to leap up after the tortoiseshell she-cat, when said cat burst into sight, blue eyes wide as she rejoined her companions, breathing heavily.

"Wrong house," she gasped, chuckling slightly. "That one had a dog."

Eliza nodded, calm, while Brambleclaw hissed, cuffing her weakly over the head.

"Be more careful!" he scolded the younger she-cat. "I thought you knew better than to just jump into a Twoleg nest!"

Cherrytail flattened her ears in embarrassment. "Yeah. My mistake. I haven't been in the twoleg place for so long, I've nearly forgotten where all the nests are."

"Who are we meeting, anyways?" Eliza questioned. "It better not be someone associated with Cyanide again. They nearly killed us last time!"

"I didn't _mean_ to run into Kenzie and her cronies!" Cherrytail hissed back, rolling her eyes. "I was looking for Stick and Cora! I had no idea they were with them."

Eliza snorted. "Tell that to Brambleclaw's wound. He nearly died protecting you!"

Said tom flicked an ear, embarrassed. "It's fine, Eliza. I told you that. And Cherrytail, it isn't your fault. If anything, it was mine, attacking like that. It was uncalled for, no matter how much he deserved it."

Cherrytail blinked, thankful that the tabby tom had agreed with her, before turning her eyes upwards towards the Twoleg nests, scanning them again, and finally stopped at a nest similar to the one she had previously tried to look into. She leapt onto that nest's fence, bounding around to the back. Once again, Brambleclaw and Eliza found themselves in a tense silence as they waited for her.

After a moment, Cherrytail appeared again, nodding to the others to show that she had found her contact. Eliza jumped up after her first, easily reaching the top, then turned around to help Brambleclaw up as he leapt after her, gasping in pain as his wound reopened slightly, a trickle of blood making its way past the cobweb binding.

The tortoiseshell she-cat hurried to the tabby tom's side, licking him comfortingly and sending a look of thanks to Eliza, who nodded in return.

"You alright?" She asked, nosing Brambleclaw gently. "We're almost there."

"I'm fine," Brambleclaw insisted, pushing past Eliza and towards the Twoleg den. "Do you know a kittypet here, Cherrytail? Can they be trusted?"

"Kind of, and of course!" The she-cat responded. "Let me try and get him."

With that, Cherrytail jumped down the fence and made her way towards the Twoleg nest. Stopping for a moment to take a deep breath, she pushed through the back door through a cat flap, her dark tail disappearing with a swoosh. Several more minutes passed, the time stretching out as Brambleclaw made a slow descent down the fence, Eliza at his side, as they struggled not to open the infected wound any more than they already had.

Finally, Cherrytail exited the Twoleg nest, her eyes alight with joy. Coming up behind her was a ginger and white tom with leaf-green eyes. He almost seemed to be in a state of shock, following Cherrytail numbly.

"I…" the tom began, looking at Cherrytail before pressing his nose to her flank happily. "Cherrytail! It's been almost three seasons! After the twolegs took you… everyone thought you were dead… how'd you get back?"

"It's a very long story," the tortoiseshell purred, before sombering and gesturing with her tail to her two companions. "Look, we need a place to stay for the night before going on to camp in the morning. Can you help us?"

"Will I help you—" The tom cut off as his eyes fell on Brambleclaw's wound. "Dear Starclan! What happened to you?" He blinked in apology almost immediately afterwards. "Excuse me, that was a bit rude. Of course you can stay with me tonight. Can you tell me your names? I'm Billystorm."

"Billystorm?" Brambleclaw echoed. "That sounds a bit like a warrior name. Why are you with Twolegs?"

Billystorm and Cherrytail shared a glance.

"It's a long story," The ginger-and-white tom replied.

"Anyways, I'm Brambleclaw," the tabby continued, putting aside the matter. "This is Eliza, a friend of ours who came with us on our journey."

Billystorm nodded.

"Let's get inside," Cherrytail mewed after a moment of awkwardness. "We have a big day tomorrow."

Billystorm purred. "Yes. I'm sure Leafstar will be ecstatic to have you back, as well as the two of you, if you so wish. Echosong, our medicine cat, will help you with your wound, Brambleclaw, that I'm certain of."

Brambleclaw flicked his tail as Eliza nodded excitedly. With that, the four cats ducked into the twoleg nest. Eliza was last, her excited mew floating in the nighttime air.

"I can hardly believe it! Tomorrow, we'll be Skyclan cats!"

The backyard of the Twoleg nest was quiet after that, with nothing left to make any noise.

After several moments, however, the wind began to blow, picking up from nearly nothing to a hard breeze, pulling up dust and feathers as it went. It began to blow even harder, until the wind itself began to swirl in one place, silver lines appearing in its depths.

The first to form was a head, with darker gray markings and pale blue eyes. His body formed next, mottled gray fur shining with pinpricks of lights. His legs each took shape soon after, followed at last by his tail.

The star-speckled tom stepped forwards on the lawn, looking at the Twoleg nest as if he could see what was occurring inside. After a moment, a small smile formed on his face, nostalgia and bittersweet happiness lining his features.

"_See? They're safe."_

The tom's voice was soft and carried on the wind, more to himself than anything.

"_I promise you, I will protect the third part of the prophecy."_

He snorted, looking up at the sky.

"_Now all you need to do is find the second of the three, Lionblaze."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1:**

**Allegiances** :

Skyclan:

Leader: Leafstar—brown-and-cream mottled she-cat with amber eyes

Deputy: Sharpclaw—dark ginger tom with amber eyes

Medicine Cat(s): Echosong—silver tabby she-cat with green eyes

Warriors:

Patchfoot—black-and-white tom with green eyes. Apprentice, Hollypaw

Petalnose—pale gray she-cat with blue eyes

Sparrowpelt—dark brown tabby tom. Apprentice, Sandypaw

Waspwhisker—gray-and-white tom with blue eyes

Shrewtooth—skinny black tom with pale yellow eyes. Apprentice, Birdpaw

Ebonyclaw—striking black she-cat with green eyes (Daylight warrior)

Billystorm—ginger-and-white tom with leaf-green eyes (Daylight warrior)

Harveymoon—white tom (Daylight warrior)

Macgyver—black-and-white tom with yellow eyes (Daylight warrior)

Rockshade—black tom with blue eyes

Bouncefire—ginger tom with amber eyes. Apprentice, Honeypaw

Tinycloud—small white she-cat with blue eyes. Apprentice, Stormpaw

Sagenose—Pale gray tom with amber eyes

Rabbitleap—Brown tom with blue eyes. Apprentice, Harrypaw

Creekfeather—Gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Nettlesplash—Pale brown tom with amber eyes

Brambleclaw—Large brown tabby tom with dark amber eyes; former loner. Apprentice, Juniperpaw

Seedtail—Brown she-cat with darker spots paws, and amber eyes; former kittypet

Nightheart—Huge black tom with white paws and yellow eyes; former rogue

Lakestream—Gray she-cat with a white belly and green eyes (Daylight warrior)

Apprentices:

Harrypaw—Gray tom with dark amber eyes

Stormpaw—Gray-and-ginger she-cat with amber eyes

Juniperpaw—Cream tabby tom with yellow eyes; former loner

Birdpaw—Black she-cat with blue eyes

Honeypaw—Pale ginger she-cat with green eyes

Sandypaw—Light brown tom with ginger legs and green eyes

Hollypaw—Black tom with gray paws and amber eyes (Daylight apprentice)

Queens:

Clovertail—light brown she-cat with white belly and legs and green eyes (Adopted: Violetkit—Black-and-white she-cat with green eyes, Twigkit—Gray she-cat with green eyes, Thrushkit—Light brown tabby tom with green eyes, Rustlekit—Dark gray tom with blue eyes)

Mintfur—Gray tabby she-cat (expecting Nettlesplash's kits)

Cherrytail—tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat with blue eyes (Nursing Brambleclaw's kits: Tawnykit—Tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes, Featherkit—Brown she-cat with a white underbelly and blue eyes, Hawkkit—Brown tabby tom with white paws and dark amber eyes, Firekit—Light ginger tom with a white underbelly and blue eyes)

Plumwillow—Dark gray she-cat with green eyes (Nursing Sagenose's kits: Flightkit—Dark gray she-cat with pale green eyes, Owlkit—Light brown tabby tom with green eyes, Ashenkit—Gray tabby she-cat with a lighter belly and blue eyes)

Elders:

Fallowfern—Pale brown she-cat with blue eyes. Deaf

Brackenfall—Light brown tabby tom with green eyes; former loner

Tangle—ragged tabby tom loner with amber eyes

Cats Outside of the Clans:

Ravenpaw—Jet black tom with a white dash, tail-tip and amber eyes

Barley—Black-and-white tom with blue eyes

Bella—Pale ginger she-cat with white stripes and green eyes

Riley—Pale gray tabby tom with blue eyes

Blacktop—Huge black tom with yellow eyes

Moonlight—Silver-gray she-cat with green eyes

Haven—Pretty pure white she-cat with amber eyes

Ripper—Black she-cat with white streaks and ice blue eyes

Pasha—Very dark, almost black tabby tom with green eyes

Hera—Light gray-and-white patched she-cat with blue eyes

Percy—Dark brown longhaired tom with yellow eyes

Annabeth—Light sandy-colored she-cat with blue-gray eyes

* * *

"Watch out! The foxes are attacking!"

Hawkkit squealed in surprise at the battle cry. His brown tabby fur fluffed up to almost twice its size as a large form leaped on top of him, pinning him the ground and squashing the air out of him.

"Featherkit! I told you, I don't wanna play clan versus foxes anymore!" Firekit's whiny voice rang out, and the weight on Hawkkit's back shifted as his sister hissed.

"Oh, be quiet, Firekit! You're such a baby! Go play with Tawnykit or something if you don't want to have fun!" Featherkit's voice was right next to his ear, making Hawkkit wince at its volume. Annoyed, the tabby kit heaved himself upwards while his sister was distracted, using his larger form to throw her off of him and onto the sandy ground. Featherkit squeaked indignantly, shaking the dirt off of her brown pelt and licking her ruffled white chest hairs.

"I win," Hawkkit announced proudly, puffing out his chest. His sister only rolled her eyes, as Firekit looked at his two littermates in a mixture of fear and annoyance, his light ginger pelt and white belly blending him in well with the rest of the den.

"No fair!" Featherkit whined. "I was distracted by Firekit! I call a rematch!"

"Surprise is a warrior's greatest strength," Hawkkit simply quoted, using the common phrase he would hear the apprentices tell them. "You'll need to learn that if you ever want to be an apprentice."

"I know that, mouse-brain!" Featherkit flicked an ear, and before Hawkkit could bite back a reply, she pounced, causing the two kits to roll on the ground, batting at each other with sheathed claws.

Suddenly, Hawkkit's rolling came to a stop as he felt himself crash against a warm body. He and Featherkit quickly sprung apart, wriggling away from the cat they fallen onto.

"Hawkkit! Featherkit!" Clovertail's voice was sharp and stern. "Watch where you are going! You could've hurt the kits!"

Hawkkit flattened his ears, chastened by the queen's scolding, while Featherkit merely scoffed and looked away.

"They're no fun," she muttered. "Those four scraps of fur just take up room in the nursery. Firekit and _Tawnykit_ are funner to play with!"

"Featherkit!" Clovertail exclaimed, while Hawkkit gasped at his sister's defiance. Clovertail was really nice, but you never wanted to get on her bad side. What was she thinking? "Out! Now!"

The brown she-kit huffed, turning around and stalking out of the den. Hawkkit, Firekit, and Clovertail watched her leave, the two brothers in a mix of shock and resignation.

"Um, sorry about that," Hawkkit apologised awkwardly, turning to Clovertail. "It seems like Featherkit has had bees in her fur all morning."

Clovertail sighed, flicking an ear. "It's alright," she responded, looking down at the four kits curled into her belly, all taking their afternoon nap. Hawkkit blinked, tilting his head as he looked at them.

Skyclan had been growing over the past couple moons. There had been seven kits—Hawkkit and his siblings Firekit, Tawnykit, and Featherkit, and then Plumwillow's kits: Ashenkit, Owlkit, and Flightkit—when Clovertail's four adopted kits had been found at the border of the clan several sunrises ago. Their mother was nowhere to be found, but had left behind behind five kits, barely under a moon old, on their own. Petalnose, having been on the patrol, had persuaded Waspwhisker to take them back to camp. The fifth kit had died on the journey back. Hawkkit remembered when they had arrived, the patrol bursting into camp with the starving kits in their jaws. He had watched beside Featherkit with wide eyes as they had asked Clovertail to take them in, and the queen had readily agreed. Already, she was fiercely protective of her new kits.

Hawkkit blinked as the black-and-white kit, Violetkit, shifted in her sleep, calling out softly. Next to her was her sister, a gray she-kit named Twigkit for her small size. Then there were the two brothers, Thrushkit and Rustlekit, a light brown tabby tom and a dark gray tom respectively, nearly inseparable from each other.

Despite their exciting entrance, the new kits were kinda boring, which meant that Hawkkit wasn't that into them. All they did was eat and sleep! Echosong said they were still recovering and could play in a few sunrises, but they were so _small_. And since Hawkkit took mostly after his father, it meant that he'd probably crush them on accident if he tried to play with them.

"They're so cute," Firekit purred, coming up to Hawkkit's side, his sky-blue eyes alight. He seemed to have recovered from the storm that was Featherkit. "I like Twigkit the best."

"I guess so," Hawkkit shrugged, tilting his head at them. He could see how his brother liked Twigkit, though. Like Firekit, Twigkit was the runt of her litter. "Rustlekit's the biggest, though. Bet you he'd make a good warrior."

Firekit's ears perked up as he studied the dark gray kitten. "Yeah, but Violetkit eats a lot. Maybe she'll pass him up."

"Mouse-brain!" Hawkkit shoved the ginger kit playfully. "She-cats don't get bigger than toms!"

"Yeah they can!" Firekit shot back. "Have you _seen_ Ebonyclaw? She's huge!"

"She's a daylight warrior! And no she-cat will ever pass up Brambleclaw. He's at least twice her size."

"But that's _Brambleclaw_. He was, like, born to be the biggest cat in the whole world!"

Hawkkit snorted, pouncing on his brother once again. It was easy to tackle his smaller littermate. He quickly gained the upper hand in their wrestling contest, and had Firekit under his paws in three heartbeats flat. Hawkkit purred as he felt the mild annoyance and discomfort roll off of the ginger-and-white tom.

"No fair, Hawkkit!" He whined.

"Hawkkit! Firekit!" Clovertail's scolding voice interrupted the two's quarrel, emanating annoyance with a mixture of contentment and happiness. "I mean it. Play outside or not at all!"

Hawkkit quickly scrambled off of Firekit, the two deciding not to face the eldest's queen's wrath, and scampered out of the nursery.

Harsh sunlight met Hawkkit's eyes as he and Firekit exited the cave. Outside, the early newleaf sun was warming the rocky gorge, all of Skyclan's warriors up and about as the day began. By the Rockpile, he could see the deputy, Sharpclaw, organizing a patrol consisting of Petalnose, Rockshade, Honeypaw, and Nightheart. Nearby, Harveymoon and Macgyver—they always made up the _best_ games—were sharing tongues over a large rabbit.

"Where's Featherkit?" Firekit mewed, his ginger tail sticking up as he searched for their headstrong sister.

Hawkkit frowned, looking over the gorge to see the brown-and-white she-kit talking with a black tom with gray paws and a cream tabby tom. "There she is! With Hollypaw and Juniperpaw!"

Firekit took off, scampering down the gorge, as Hawkkit trailed behind him. Sometimes he hated his large size; it was difficult to keep up with his younger brother, thanks to him being much too big for his paws. The two littermates jumped down a couple rocks before reaching the trio. One of the apprentices, Juniperpaw, sat up as they approached, purring.

"Well, it seems that some more kits have come to talk with us!" He mewed, nudging Hollypaw. "Featherkit here was just asking us to teach her some battle moves. Think we can take two more students, Hollypaw?"

The black-and-gray tom shrugged, not really caring. "I don't mind. At least, not that much."

"Ooh!" Hawkkit squealed, shooting a betrayed look at Featherkit. "Battle moves? Featherkit, why didn't you wait for me? You were trying to get the upper paw on me in our fight again, weren't you?"

"It's not my fault you were too busy looking at those furball kits," his sister shot back, though the smile on her face took the bite out of her words.

"Th-they aren't furballs!" Firekit protested with a stammer. "I like them!"

Featherkit rolled her eyes at Hawkkit, annoyance practically dripping off her pelt, before turning back to the two older toms. "Well?" she questioned. "You said you'd show how to attack."

Juniperpaw laughed. "Patience," he mewed. "I was getting to it! See, a basic attack works like this." Suddenly, he turned on Hollypaw, his paws coming down on the black tom's head. Startled, Hollypaw dodged, rolling out of the way.

"Give me a warning next time," he muttered, shaking out his pelt.

Hawkkit gasped in awe at the apprentice's skill, feeling admiration from Firekit and envy from Featherkit. He had to try this himself! He turned on his paws and attacked Featherkit, trying his best to copy the move he had just seen. However, Featherkit had long seen him coming, and rolled off to the side, pouncing on top of him. Grunting, Hawkkit bucked upwards, throwing off his sister and attacking again, their play-fight quickly turning into a wrestling match.

Things went on like that for a while. Featherkit and Hawkkit continued to play fight, neither littermate getting the upper hand until Featherkit stumbled on a pebble, and Hawkkit threw himself on top of her, squishing the air out of her lungs.

"Fine!" The brown-and-white she-kit gasped, wheezing. "Alright! I give!"

"Looks like we have a winner," Juniperpaw commented. Hawkkit looked up, having nearly forgotten that he was there. "Good job! I think both of you will make great warriors—just not as good as me, of course. When's your apprentice ceremony, anyways?"

It was Firekit who answered. He hadn't opted to join his siblings' fight, and had settled himself next to Hollypaw. "Tomorrow, I think. Brambleclaw says Leafstar says that we're more than ready."

"Already?" Juniperpaw exclaimed. "I remember when I first met you, as three-moon-old kits. Time sure does fly by fast. It feels like I've been part of the clan for seasons."

Hawkkit nodded. Juniperpaw was a former rogue who had been recruited by Rockshade three moons ago, and was actually the age of a young warrior. His aging father, Brackenfall, had joined the elder's den with Fallowfern and Tangle.

"You can say that again," Hollypaw nodded. He was the clan's sole daylight apprentice, living with Twolegs at night but hunting and fighting for the clan during the day. From what Hawkpaw had heard, he'd found out about the clan back when he was a kit, and had joined as a daylight apprentice when he'd hit his sixth moon.

Across the camp, a commotion began, causing the apprentices and kits to look up towards the top of the gorge, where a patrol was making their way down to the camp. Hawkkit squinted and identified Stormpaw and Harrypaw, Leafstar's kits, leading the procession down the camp, their heads and tails held high in elation. Behind them, Tinycloud and Rabbitleap were just as excited as their apprentices, talking animatedly as Leafstar, Sharpclaw, and Patchfoot brought up the rear.

"Oh, it's Harrypaw and Stormpaw!" Firekit exclaimed, grinning. "They must've gotten back from their warrior assessment! I wonder how it went?"

"Yes, I wonder," Featherkit monotoned. "Their joyful expressions really leave _so_ much up to debate."

"Stop being mean, Featherkit!"

"Me, mean? You're the one being a mouse-brain!"

"Alright, you two," Hollypaw stepped forwards, putting himself in between the quarreling littermates. "_Both_ of you be nice."

"Besides," Juniperpaw flicked an ear. "At least Featherkit, with all her pride—"

"Hey!"

"Isn't nearly as bad as Stormpaw." He scrunched up with face and pitched up his voice in a poor imitation of the senior apprentice's voice. "_My name is Stormpaw and I'm the best and strongest cat in the world all because the great Leafstar is my mother._ Pah, she's going to be even worse now that she's becoming a warrior."

Hollypaw snorted. "You can say that again. I'm lucky I don't share a den with her."

Hawkkit snorted at Juniperpaw's false imitation of the she-cat. Stormpaw was well-known throughout the clan of being, well, a pain in the tail. Her brother, Harrypaw, was a lot nicer, but Stormpaw just refused to learn of the term _subtlety._

"That's the elder's den for both of you. You know better than to insult your clanmates like that."

The five cats jumped, surprised, and turned to see a large tom padding up to them. He had dark, tabby brown fur and an ugly looking scar across his throat that Hawkkit had always insisted made him look cool and intimidating. However, his dark amber eyes twinkled with a hidden humor, even as Juniperpaw and Hollypaw moaned in unison.

"Brambleclaw!" Hawkkit, Featherkit, and Firekit exclaimed in unison, jumping up and tackling their father. The mighty tom staggered slightly from their combined weight, but quickly recovered and laughed.

"It's good to see you three!" He purred, practically vibrating tiny Firekit, who had latched onto his side. "Sorry I didn't stop by this morning. Juniperpaw and I had the dawn patrol."

"It's alright, Dad!" Firekit squealed happily, nuzzling his face into his father's fur. "How was the patrol?"

"Did you catch anything?" Hawkkit inquired.

"Chase off any rogues?" Featherkit squeaked. Without waiting for an answer, she leapt off of her father and began tearing at the ground with unsheathed claws. "I would've ripped their pelts off!"

"No, of course not!" Brambleclaw drew his tail over his daughter's back in a placating manner. "You know Skyclan is welcome to all outsiders, Featherkit. And we didn't catch much, Hawkkit, as it was only a border patrol, but Juniperpaw did catch a shrew on the way back."

"Lucky," The brown tabby kitten shook out his soft fur. "Why can't we go outside of the camp yet? We're almost six moons! So close!"

"But not close enough," Brambleclaw pushed at him playfully with his nose, and Hawkkit couldn't help but draw away slightly.

"Aw, c'mon Dad!"

"Do we really have to clean the elder's den?" It was Hollypaw who interrupted the moment between the family, looking slightly annoyed.

"Yes, Hollypaw," Brambleclaw nodded as Firekit bounced off of his side, landing happily with his tail sticking straight up. "And I expect it to have been done _well_."

"Ugh," Juniperpaw complained, throwing up his muzzle to the sky. "I'll have to deal with _Tangle_." He suddenly flattened his ears as he realised his mistake and Brambleclaw shot him a warning look. "Ah, I mean… off to clean the elder's den! Bye!" In a flash of his brown-tipped tail, he was off, bounding up towards the elder's den before his mentor could have a chance to punish him any further.

"Are you waiting for me to tell you something?" Brambleclaw questioned to Hollypaw, who had yet to move. The black-and-gray tom simply rolled his eyes discreetly and turned after his friend, leaping up onto a rock and out of sight.

"Aw," Featherkit sighed. "They were showing us more battle moves!"

"You'll have more than enough time to learn when you're apprenticed," Brambleclaw shook his head. He stood up, shaking the sand out of his fur. "Now how about we make our way to the Rockpile? I'm sure you want to see Stormpaw and Harrypaw's warrior ceremonies."

"Yes!" Hawkkit and Firekit squeaked at the same time, jumping to their feet, while Featherkit bounded ahead them both. As if on cue, Leafstar's voice cut through the mid-morning air.

"All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey please gather under the Rockpile for a clan meeting!"

The three littermates charged towards the bottom of the camp at Leafstar's call, all wanting to see the ceremony take place. It had been a long time since there had been a warrior ceremony—the last had been Lakestream, a daylight warrior, and Harrypaw and Stormpaw had been delayed due to a bought of greencough that had ravaged the clan last leaf-bare—so all were extremely excited to see the oldest apprentices rise up the ranks.

Already, several cats had gathered below Leafstar, who had situated herself on the very top of the Rockpile, so the three kits had to push past Waspwhisker and Nettlesplash in order to get to the very front. Hawkkit made sure he had a good view on Featherkit's side. Looking around the crowd of cats, he caught sight of Cherrytail, his mother, walking towards them, her white-and-tortoiseshell fur shining in the sunlight. Beside her hopped Tawnykit, looking like a miniature version of her mother, save for her darker coat and amber eyes.

"There you four are!" She purred, licking Featherkit, who ducked away.

"Ew, Mom! I'm not a tiny kitten!" Came her inevitable protest.

"You'll always be my little kitten," Cherrytail responded. "Besides, have you seen your fur? It's sticking up in every direction! I can't have you being presented in such a manner."

"This isn't our ceremony!" Featherkit squealed, trying in vain to avoid her mother's grooming. Hawkkit giggled at his sister's predicament.

"Oh, don't think you've gotten away without a bath too," Cherrytail angled an eye at her son. "You're just as bad as your sister. Brambleclaw?"

"Oh no." Hawkkit tried to move, but it was too late. His father descended on him with a flurry of licks, smoothing down his rattled fur into a sleek coat. "Do you always have to groom us? We're almost six moons!"

"Until you learn how to do it yourself, yes," Cherrytail nodded, drawing away from Featherkit, who had a glowering look that could kill a fox.

"Firekit and Tawnykit don't get this much attention!"

"That's because they don't get into half as much trouble as the two of you. You would do well to follow their example every once in awhile."

"Thanks, Mom," Tawnykit purred while Firepaw drew his paws over his ears in embarrassment.

Any further conversation or argument was quickly cut off as Leafstar began to speak. Hawkkit jumped and squirmed around Brambleclaw so he could see. He hadn't realised she was already going to start!

"I, Leafstar, leader of Skyclan," Leafstar began. Hawkkit couldn't help but feel a wave of admiration for how regal his leader looked at the moment. "Call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as a warrior in turn."

She turned to Stormpaw first. As expected, she was extremely proud of herself, her gray-and-ginger fur groomed to near perfection.

"Stormpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Her amber eyes blazed with pride. "I do."

At that moment, a similar amount of pride flowed from Leafstar, though she didn't show most of it publicly.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Stormpaw, from this moment on you will be known as Stormheart. StarClan honors your dedication and skill, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Skyclan."

She turned to Harrypaw next, leaving the newly named Stormheart to point her muzzle up in the most regal way possible. _Flea-brain,_ Hawkkit could help but think.

By this time Leafstar had begun speaking again. "Harrypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do." Unlike Stormheart, the gray tom was more humble, bowing his head to his mother, though his tail-tip trembled with anticipation.

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Harrypaw, from this moment you will be known as Harrybrook. StarClan honors your empathy and loyalty, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Skyclan."

Leafstar rested her muzzle on Stormheart's head, and the ginger-and-gray she-cat licked her shoulder, then repeated the process with Harrybrook. As she drew away, the clan erupted into cheers.

"Stormheart! Harrybrook! Stormheart! Harrybrook!"

"Harrybrook!" Hawkkit joined in himself, trying to overpower Brambleclaw's strong cries with his own. Next to him, Tawnykit shouted their names as well, while Featherkit and Firekit were slightly envious of the new warriors. Cherrytail had moved to sit next to her mate, who curled his tail against hers.

Hawkkit couldn't help but feel an odd feeling rising in his chest. Even though he didn't know what it was, it felt nice, and he let it spread from his chest to his tail-tip, basking in its warmth. In that moment, everything felt perfect.

Things were good.


	3. Chapter 3

“Hawkkit! Hawkkit, wake up!”

“Wha? Wassit?” It took a moment for Hawkkit to realise the whiny, mumbling voice was his. Blinking his eyes open, he stretched, wincing as a paw jabbed into his side. Grumbling, he batted the paw away, shaking the sleep out of his eyes and letting the world come into focus around him.

He was in the nursery, as per usual. Cherrytail and Firekit were curled next to him, still deep in sleep, though Tawnykit and Featherkit were already gone. Turning around, he came face-to-face with a gray she-kit, perhaps about half his size, with gray tabby fur, blue eyes, with darker stripes and a lighter belly. She flicked her ears in slight annoyance at him.

“C’mon, Hawkkit! You promised to play with us one last time!” She whispered, careful not to wake up Firekit or Cherrytail. 

“Oh, Ashenkit.” He barely remembered to keep his voice down in time. “Let’s go outside. I need to wake up before we can talk at all.”

“Mouse-brain,” came the teasing whispered response, before the gray tabby kit turned tail and bounded outside of the nursery cave. Hawkkit followed after her more slowly, careful not to walk on the mismatched bundle of furs that were Twigkit, Violetkit, Thrushkit, and Rustlekit.  _ I can’t wait to become an apprentice. It’s so crowded in here _ . Wait. He paused for a moment.  _ Leafstar was saying it’d be today! _

And all of a sudden, he was awake, bounding out of the den as quickly and quietly as was possible. Bounding out of the den, he turned down the rockface, just catching sight of Ashenkit’s fluffy tail as it disappeared behind a pile of rocks. Purring to himself—that was Ashenkit for you; she never waited for anything—he followed her, mood uplifted by his earlier realisation.

Behind the pile of rocks sat Tawnykit, Featherkit, a black she-kit, a light brown tom, and Ashenkit, who was just settling herself at the black she-kit’s side.

“Finally!” Featherkit exclaimed at her brother’s entrance. “It took you long enough! You sleep like a badger; Ashenkit had to come and get you!”

“Snores like one too,” the black she-kit, Flightkit, muttered to herself. Ashenkit nudged her sister.

“That’s not fair!” Hawkkit protested at his sister’s words. “I was up late with Juniperpaw!”

“You made us wait,” the brown-and-white she-kit snorted. Tawnykit sent her a look, while the brown tom, Owlkit, simply kneaded his paws in the ground, anxious to begin. “But no matter. Let’s start!”

With a small leap, Featherkit jumped on top of the small pile of rocks and looked down over her littermates and friends. Hawkkit couldn’t help but snort quietly to himself as she did so. Featherkit was trying to look intimidating, that he knew, but with her kitten-soft fur, looked rather silly.

“Welcome, warriors of Whispclan!” She declared, waving her tail wildly. “Tawnydawn, my medicine cat, I trust our herbs are in good supply?”

“Yes, Featherstar,” Tawnykit replied. “But we need more chamomile. I’ll collect it!”

“Flightfoot, my deputy, how have the patrols gone?”

“Not good,” the black she-kit hissed, turning to glare at Ashenkit and tackling her to the ground. “Owlfeather and I found Ashenstep and Hawkflame on our border! Cloudclan has trespassed on our borders once again!”

“Oh, the deputy of Cloudclan himself!” Featherkit declared, and Hawkkit bristled out his fur in mock anger.

“Whispclan belongs to Cloudclan!” He growled, and Ashenkit wriggled her way out from under her sister to take her place next to Hawkkit. “We’ll take it by force if we need to!”

“Yeah! Our kits need more food!” The gray she-kit added forcefully. Featherkit bristled.

“If you so wish, Hawkflame. Whispclan, attack!”

With that, the four kits clashed together. Hawkkit found himself face-to-face with Flightkit, who ducked under his initial tackle to rake her sheathed paws through his belly. Growling, he let himself fall on top of the smaller she-kit. Flightkit squealed in discomfort, and writhed underneath him, trying to dislodge his lumbering form.

Hawkkit glanced around the small cove where the makeshift battle was taking place. Featherkit and Owlkit were locked in battle with Ashenkit, who was starting to drown slightly under their bigger masses.

He and his siblings had started this game a while ago. A make-believe world where Whispclan live in the gourge, lead by Featherstar, her deputy Flightfoot, and senior warrior Owlfeather. Hawkkit had made himself Hawkflame, deputy of rival Cloudclan, where with his senior warrior Ashenstep, were locked in eternal war with Whispclan. Somehow, every game ended up in a battle. Tawnykit—now Tawnydawn—was always the medicine cat, though her allegiance tended to shift between Cloudclan and Whispclan, allying with whichever clan seemed the most in need of her input.

Flightkit finally squirmed out of Hawkkit’s grasp, jabbing her paws into his face and causing him to reflexively close his eyes. Taking advantage of his distraction, she batted at his face, and Hawkkit retaliated by rolling over and headbutting her side.

The battle went on like this for some time. While Ashenkit wasn’t the best fighter and thus eventually lost to the combined efforts of Featherkit and Owlkit, Hawkkit and Flightkit kept themselves fighting for some time longer. Hawkkit struggled to grasp the she-kit’s sleek black coat while Flightkit herself didn’t have the strength necessary to throw him off. Finally, the two separated at the sound of Featherkit’s stomach growling.

“You two take this game so seriously!” Ashenkit purred as the two separated, shaking out her fur. It stuck up in untidy clumps from being tackled to the ground one too many times. Featherkit, meanwhile, only flicked an ear.

“Let’s go see if there’s anything to eat,” she announced. “I’m so hungry I could eat a fox!”

“I could eat a badger!” Owlkit exclaimed.

“Oh yeah? Well, I could eat a horse! You can’t get any bigger than that!” Ashenkit exclaimed, bouncing out from their play-camp. “Last one to the fresh-kill pile is a mouse!”

“What? No fair!” Owlkit complained, already running after her. “You get a head start!”

“Then we better get running!” Hawkkit exclaimed, bursting into a sprint despite his sore muscles. Behind him, he heard Owlkit squeak in surprise and annoyance, while Tawnykit let out a bark of laughter. As they raced out into the clearing, speedy Flightkit drew ahead of them, paws barely skimming the ground as she and Ashenkit raced for first place. Still tired—how in the world was Flightkit so fast after such a fight?—Featherkit and Tawnykit passed him up as well. 

The four skidded into the fresh-kill pile. Hawkkit slowed to a strut as Featherkit and Tawnykit stopped as well, the brown-and-white she-kit having passed her sister in the last fox-lengths. Ashenkit and Flightkit, however, were so caught up in their race that neither could stop in time, and ended up crashing into the fresh-kill pile, sending prey flying everywhere.

“Look what you’ve done!” Tawnykit exclaimed as Flightkit sat up with a groan, a small mouse balancing on her head. “The whole pile is a mess! What are the warriors going to think?!”

“I’m not sure what I should think.” The group of six turned to see a pale gray tom with amber eyes watching them in a mix of exasperation and amusement. Behind him, three more cats jumped up to the clearing. “But I’m fairly certain that this is the cause of another race.”

“Sagenose!” Ashenkit and Owlkit squealed at the sight of their father, while Flightkit hurriedly shook off the mouse on her head, looking embarrassed. 

“Are we in trouble?” The dark gray she-cat questioned, flattening her ears. Sagenose snorted. 

“I’m very tempted.”

“Oh, give them a break, Sagenose.” A black-and-white tom, Patchfoot, nudged his shoulder. “You’re always a lot harder on your own kits. My, I think you were easier on Nightheart, and he was your own apprentice!”

Sagenose’s nose twitched, and he gave the senior warrior a look. Hawkkit and Tawnykit started giggling.

“You three are becoming apprentices today, aren’t you?” Birdpaw, a black she-cat, mewed around a recently-killed rabbit locked in her mouth. Her mentor, Shrewtooth, also carried two mice between his jaws.

“Yep!” Featherkit squeaked, sitting up straight. She turned to Patchfoot. “Has Leafstar told you who’s mentoring us? You’re, like, the oldest warrior in the clan!”

Patchfoot’s ear twitched, and Sagenose laughed. “You heard her, you old badger,” he teased. 

Tawnykit, meanwhile, cuffed Featherkit over the head while Ashenkit and Hawkkit burst into laughter. 

“For the record, no, I don't,” Patchfoot flicked his clanmate with his tail. “Only Sharpclaw and Leafstar will know for sure.”

“Well, except for Tawnykit,” Shrewtooth remarked, beginning to reform the fresh-kill pile. “I think we all know who her mentor will be. Mind helping me, Ashenkit, Flightkit? You made this mess in the first place.”

The two sisters groaned, and Hawkkit silently sighed in relief, happy it wasn't him who had been stuck with such a punishment. 

“You heard him,” Sagenose tilted his head to the fresh-kill pile. “Get to work, you two.”

Ashenkit reluctantly followed her father’s orders, with Flightkit trailing behind her.

“This is all your fault,” the dark gray she-cat grumped, causing her father to cuff her over the ear.

“This is both of you faults,” he scolded. “Now get to work.”

Hawkkit turned away from where his friends were working, and towards Tawnykit and Birdpaw—Owlkit and Featherkit had started play-fighting while he had turned away, though over what he had no idea.

“You really think Echosong will accept me?” The tortoiseshell kit was asking.

“Duh,” the older apprentice scoffed. “I mean, come on, Tawnykit, you're practically her apprentice already!”

“Yeah!” Hawkkit agreed, nudging his sister. “You don't give yourself any credit. You already know, like, all of the herbs! Remember that time Featherkit hurt herself and you knew exactly what to do?”

“It was only a scratch,” Tawnykit muttered, then looked over Hawkkit’s shoulder. “Hey, look! It's Leafstar!”

The other two cats whipped around to see said leader on the Rockpile, conversing with her deputy, Sharpclaw. Hawkkit swore he saw the dark ginger tom send him a dark look, and he shivered. He had never liked Sharpclaw; the clan deputy was always so cold and distant to him and his siblings. As the trio watched, Patchfoot padded up to them, and began mewing to them quietly.

“What's he talking to them about?” Hawkkit asked, blinking. “Did something happen on the dawn patrol?”

Birdpaw flicked her ear, looking uncertain. “I'm not sure if should tell you…” she hesitated.

“Well you have to tell us now!” Hawkkit protested. “Don't leave us hanging!”

“We're almost apprentices!” Tawnykit protested as her brother aimed a blow on the black she-cat’s side.

“Fine, I get the message.” Birdpaw easily dodged Hawkkit’s playful attack. “Well, we've been scenting rogue on our territory—more than one.”

“Rogues?” Hawkkit echoed. “We'll be getting new clanmates soon, then! Like Juniperpaw and Brackenfall!”

“Maybe,” Birdpaw shrugged. “But Shrewtooth says that only rogues who wish to join are friendly to the clan. Some don’t like cats like us. They prefer to strike out alone.”

“Who wouldn't want to be in a clan?” Hawkkit questioned, mystified. Who wouldn't want the companionship and protection of other cats?

“The Daylight warriors are here!”

Waspwhisker’s voice drug the three out of their conversation. Tawnykit and Hawkkit bounced to their feet, excited. 

As they watched, six cats made their way over the edge of the gorge and towards the main camp. Billystorm and Ebonyclaw were leading the way, the two senior warriors chatting cheerfully, followed by Harveymoon and Macgyver, who were laughing about something that must've happened on the way to camp. Bringing up the rear were Lakestream, the clan’s newest daylight warrior, and Hollypaw.

“Ooh, Billystorm’s here!” Tawnykit exclaimed. “Do you think he'll have any good stories today?”

“Maybe he'll tell us about Firestar and Sandstorm again!” Hawkkit added. 

“Birdpaw!” They turned to see Honeypaw, Birdpaw’s sister, call out to them. “Come on! Shrewtooth, Sparrowpelt, and Patchfoot are taking us out for battle training, remember?”

“Oh yeah!” Birdpaw started, standing up. She turned to the two kits. “Sorry, duty calls.”

“You won't be staying for our ceremony?” Hawkkit whined, flattening his ears while Tawnykit looked slightly betrayed.

Birdpaw blinked. “Oh, mouse-dung. That's today, isn't it? Sorry. You'll tell me who you get for your mentors, right?” 

“Of course we will!” Tawnykit exclaimed. Birdpaw laughed. 

“I look forward to it. Anyways, I'll see you all later!”

“Bye!” The littermates choursed as the black she-cat bounded away. Featherkit and Owlkit walked up to them as she left.

“Where's Birdpaw going?” Owlkit questioned, shaking out his light brown pelt. It was covered in sand from the defeat he must've suffered at Featherkit’s paws.

“Training,” Tawnykit answered, also standing up. “I'm going to go see Echosong, alright? She's showing me how to use marigold today!”

“Wait until you're an apprentice, won't you?” Featherkit snorted amusedly Tawnykit only flicked an ear, trotting down to the medicine cat den.

“You think she'll have time for us once we become apprentices?” Hawkkit questioned as their sister whisked out of sight. “I mean, medicine cat is such an important job. What if she's too busy to play anymore?”

“ ‘S not like she plays much with us anyways,” Featherkit snorted, grooming her paw. “All Tawnykit ever does is hang around Echosong. We hardly even  _ see  _ her anymore.”

“She has a point,” Owlkit said. “Maybe we should start letting Firekit play with us.”

“Firekit?” Hawkkit scoffed. “I mean, I like him and all, but he's not a fighter or anything. He's just too much of a crykitten to be any fun.”

“Now that's something we agree on,” Featherkit nodded.

“Uh… excuse me?”

The trio whipped around in surprise to see a small kitten with black-and-white patched fur and wide, amber eyes staring at them. She was very thin, but seemed to be strong enough to walk around. It took Hawkkit a couple moments to recognize her in her conscious form.

“Violetkit?” he questioned, as Featherkit gasped. “What are doing out here? When did you wake up?”

“Does Clovertail know you're awake?” Owlkit added. 

The black-and-white she-kit tilted her head at them, confused. 

“Who are you?” She asked, and swept her gaze around camp, in awe and a slight panic. “Where am I? Where’s Mama?”

“What?” Featherkit blinked, and Owlkit nudged her. 

“She doesn't know anything, mouse-brain,” the light brown tabby hissed, then raised his voice for her. “You're in the Skyclan camp. We found you abandoned with your littermates on the border. Who is your mother?”

“Skywhatnow?” Violetkit echoed. She began to panic slightly, beginning to breathe quickly. “Where's Mama? And Trigger?”

Hawkkit and his friends shared a panicked look, not knowing what to do. Soon the kit began to wail for her mother, and Hawkkit began to look around for some sort of help. He had no idea how to handle a crying kitten!

“What do we do?” Featherkit hissed, blue eyes wide with fear. 

Thankfully, they were saved from having to do anything. Petalnose, her sleek gray fur freshly groomed, rushed down to them, Tinycloud right on her heels. 

“What happened?” The senior warrior questioned, bending down to try and groom Violetkit comfortingly. “Violetkit, what’s wrong?”

“She was asking us where she was, and where her mother and someone named ‘Trigger’ was,” Hawkkit mewed, feeling better now that some older cats were here. “What is she talking about?”

Petalnose waved her tail for him to quiet. She seemed to be calming Violetkit down with her even licks, as she had stopped wailing at the top of her lungs. Tinycloud ran her tail reassuringly down Featherkit’s back reassuringly. 

“Who’s your mother, little one?” Petalnose cooed quietly, drawing back when Violetkit had seemed to come back to earth. “Can you tell me her name?”

“Name?” the black-and-white kit repeated. “Her name’s Mama. Where’s Trigger? I saw Forte, Mason, and Twitch with that other she-cat, but where is he? And why are you calling me Violetkit? My name’s Jamie.”

“Is Trigger your brother?” Petalnose replied softly and patiently.

“Yes! Where is he?!” Her voice was starting to rise again. The senior warrior sighed.

“I don’t know where your mother and brother are, little one, but I’m sure they’ll be back for you soon enough. And we’ve changed your name. You are Violetkit now. Your siblings are Twigkit, Thrushkit, and Rustlekit.”

“They’re coming back?” Violetkit echoed. Petalnose smiled.

“Of course, little one.”

“But you guys—” Featherkit’s mouth was stuffed with Tinycloud’s tail, effectively cutting her off. 

“Violetkit!” Everyone turned around to see Cherrytail and Clovertail running towards them. Behind them trailed Firekit, unable to keep up with his mother. “Are you alright? You scared me half to death!”

“ ‘M fine,” Violetkit murmured. “You’re that nice she-cat, right? The one who’s been feeding me?”

“Yes. I’m Clovertail.”

“You guys have weird names.”

“ _ We’re _ the ones with weird names?” Hawkkit muttered. Cherrytail shot him a look and he flattened his ears in response. Who had names like  _ Jamie _ ?

“Is everything alright?” Hawkkit started in surprise as Leafstar padded up to them, her mottled brown-and-cream fur shining in the morning light. 

“Yes, Leafstar,” Tinycloud nodded, taking her tail out of Featherkit’s mouth, who then spat out several white hairs in disgust. “Violetkit’s just woken up. She was a bit disoriented.”

Leafstar looked down to the moon-old kit, who gazed back with wide amber eyes. After a moment, the elder she-cat smiled. 

“I’m Leafstar,” she mewed warmly. “Leader of Skyclan, the cats who live in this gorge. And you are—?”

“Um,” Violetkit stuttered, obviously a bit intimidated. “I-I’m Jamie. I me-mean, um, I guess I’m Violetkit now?”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Violetkit,” Leafstar purred. “Why don’t you go back to the nursery? Your littermates should be waking any time now, and I’m sure Clovertail will be happy to answer any questions you have.”

“Okay,” Violetkit murmured. Purring, Clovertail picked her up by the scruff, carrying her back toward the nursery.

“Oh thank goodness.” Petalnose slumped down slightly. “That was… something, there.”

“What happened?” Firekit questioned. Owlkit leaned down to explain quietly the events of the past couple moments. Hawkkit and Featherkit shared a look, wondering what had brought Leafstar down to talk with them. Hawkkit himself wanted to ask, but he had the feeling it wouldn’t be very appropriate.... 

“What brings you to the nursery, Leafstar?” Thankfully, it was Cherrytail who voiced their question for them.

“I just wanted to let you know that it’s almost time for your kits’ ceremonies. I wanted to give you enough time to groom them and all.” She looked down at Hawkkit and his littermates. “Are you three ready to start your warrior training?”

“Yes!” All three kits shot up in excitement, tails sticking out. 

“Is that even a question?” Featherkit continued. Leafstar purred.

“In all my moons I have never seen a kit unwilling to help their clan,” she laughed. “So I guess that makes it a no.”

Tinycloud laughed. “You can say that again. I've never seen Sagenose more tired since he became a father.”

“We're not that bad!” Owlkit exclaimed. Cherrytail flicked her tail good-naturedly. 

“Tell that to your sisters,” she countered, then turned back to her leader. “I'll make sure that they're ready. Tinycloud, would you mind waking up Brambleclaw for me? I know he had sentry duty last night, but that gives him no excuse to miss his kits’ ceremonies.”

“Okay,” the white she-cat nodded, bowed her head to Leafstar, and turned towards the warriors’ den.

“Now,” Cherrytail muttered, pulling Hawkkit towards her with her tail and beginning to groom him fiercely. “To make you all look halfway decent for your ceremonies.”

“Ick!” Hawkkit exclaimed, trying to squirm out of his mother's grasp. For Starclan’s sake, she seemed to be cleaning him whatever chance she got!

“I’ll help you out, alright?” Petalnose was already pulling Featherkit towards her, who was trying desperately to get away, panic flaring off her pelt. Hawkkit snorted, glad she was getting put through the same torture he was.

Leafstar laughed. “We’ll start the ceremony in a few moments,” she mewed good-naturedly, before walking off to greet Billystorm and Harrybrook, who had just finished their breakfast.

Hawkkit winced as his mother kept on grooming him, making him feel uncomfortable and sticky. Opening one eye, he glimpsed Firekit snickering at him, and he growled slightly. That wasn’t fair! Firekit  _ enjoyed  _ getting his baths!

Right as Cherrytail was finishing him up, Brambleclaw came up to them, fur ruffled as if he hadn’t slept that well the night before. Hawkkit glanced at him, but didn’t pay much attention to it, as Cherrytail had  _ finally _ released him. Taking his chance, he bounded away, squealing as he revelled in freedom.

“How are you doing, my little warrior?” Brambleclaw rumbled quietly, licking him on top of the head. Hawkkit drew back, lashing his tail in excitement.

“We’re becoming apprentices today, Dad!” He fidgeted excitedly. “Who do you think will mentor me? Rockshade? Billystorm? Ooh, maybe even Harveymoon?”

“Leafstar will choose whoever she thinks will work with you best.”

“Are you alright, Brambleclaw?” Cherrytail spoke up, nuzzling her mate gently. “You look exhausted.”

“I’m alright,” the large tabby tom shrugged. “Just dreaming, again. I’ll be fine.”

“Oh, dear,” Cherrytail licked her mate comfortingly. “You should’ve woken me up! We’ve talked about this.”

“I’ll be  _ fine _ ,” Brambleclaw accented the word good-naturedly this time. “It was no use bothering you. I just volunteered to keep lookout instead. Besides, it’s the kits’ big day, isn’t it!”

“You bet it is!” Featherkit squeaked, having just been let go by Petalnose, who had moved on to a much more willing Firekit. “Six entire moons we’ve had to wait, Dad!  _ Six entire moons! _ ”

Brambleclaw chuckled. “I get it. I was the same way, actually, when I was your age. Where's Tawnykit?”

“Over with Echosong,” Hawkkit responded. “As usual.”

“That she-cat needs to learn how to be social,” Cherrytail sighed, shaking her head. “She has it in her head that no one her elder is worth her time. It's endearing but annoying at the same time.”

Hawkkit nodded in agreement amusedly.

“I can go fetch her,” Petalnose offered from where she had almost finished grooming Firekit. 

“Thank you.” Cherrytail dipped her head to her friend. “I owe you one.”

“No you don't!” The gray she-cat shook her head. “I know what it is like to have kits. Thank Starclan I only had two, though. I'd never be able to do what you do with four.”

“Sometimes, I wonder as well.”

“Mom!” Featherkit complained as Petalnose strode off to find their sister. “Stop making me look bad! I need to make sure I have a good reputation for my ceremony!”

“You already ruin it yourself,” Hawkkit snorted, and Featherkit snarled, launching herself to attack, but only found thin air as Brambleclaw drug her away by the scruff of her neck. The brown-and-white she-kit’s ears flattened in embarrassment. “And my point is proven.”

“Mouse-brain.”

“Thistle-heart!”

“Stop it, you two!” Firekit pleaded. “Come on, it’s our apprentice ceremony! Can’t you be nice for once?”

“He has a point,” Cherrytail nodded as Brambleclaw set Featherkit down. “Be nice, at least until the ceremony is over, alright?”

“I'll be nice if she's nice,” Hawkkit snorted. Featherkit hissed, but said nothing as Brambleclaw cuffed her gently over the ear. A flicker of fear flashed off of his pelt, and Hawkkit frowned. Why would his father be afraid? Today was the biggest day of his life!

“All cats who are old enough to catch their own prey, please gather around the Rockpile for a clan meeting!”

Leafstar’s commanding new wrenched Hawkkit out of his thoughts. “That's our cue! Come on!” He shouted, bounding to the Rockpile, Featherkit hot on his heels.

As they ran, Hawkkit caught sight of Tawnykit, who was racing towards them with a frantic look in her eye. She skidded to stop once she reached them.

“I'm sorry!” She gasped, amber eyes wide as she wanted for breath. “I didn't know... the ceremony was so soon!”

“You should have been with your family either way,” Cherrytail scolded her daughter. “It's your last day as a kit! At least  _ try _ to enjoy it.”

“Sorry,” Tawnykit muttered, bowing her head. Brambleclaw gave his mate a knowing look. 

“Who are we to tell her what to do? She's practically an apprentice now.” He flicked his tail. “It’s alright, as long as you do try to spend time with us more. Family is one of the most precious parts of our lives, Tawnykit.”

Hawkkit blinked. Most precious part? He could never see Featherkit as anything more than annoying.

“Come on, we can't be late!” Firekit interrupted. “I need to know who my mentor will be!”

The family of six set off again, Featherkit and Hawkkit still in the lead as they finally skidded to halt in front of Leafstar. His heart beat wildly in his chest. Finally! He could finally start his training to become a warrior!

As Cherrytail hurriedly began grooming Tawnykit and the last several cats had sat down around the Rockpile, Leafstar began.

“Skyclan, we have grown exceedingly strong in the days since we were reformed, and today is the day we become even stronger!” She mewed, her light amber eyes alight with pride and purpose. “Today we will perform one of my favorite ceremonies. Brambleclaw and Cherrytail’s kits have reached six moons of age, and now, they are old enough to be apprenticed.”

She bounded down the rock just as Tawnykit frantically scampered down to Hawkkit’s side, sending him a look of relief and slight embarrassment.

Leafstar turned to Firekit first.

“Firekit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Firepaw. Your mentor will be Nettlesplash, and I know he will pass down all he knows on to you.”

Firepaw seemed to almost vibrate with excitement as the light brown warrior strode up to him.

“Nettlesplash, it is time you've received your own apprentice. You've received excellent training under Bouncefire, and have shown yourself to be a courageous and compassionate warrior. You will be Firepaw’s mentor, and I expect you to pass on all you know to him.”

Hawkkit’s brother bounced up to meet Nettlesplash’s nose, almost having to stand on his hind legs to do so due to his small size.

“You are going to be the best warrior the gorge has ever seen,” the light brown tom murmured to him. 

Leafstar’s voice drug Hawkkit back to attention. Would he be next?

“Featherkit, you have also reached six moons of age. From this time on, your name will be Featherpaw. Your mentor will be Rockshade, and I hope he will pass down all he knows to you. Rockshade,” The black tom strode forward, almost as excited as his new apprentice. “It is high time that you receive your first apprentice. Cherrytail has taught you to be one of the best hunters in the clan, and I hope you will do the same with her daughter.”

The two touched noses, almost knocking Hawkkit off of his feet with their combined joy and energy.  _ Oh boy,  _ he couldn't help but think.  _ He's going to make Featherpaw even worse now. _

“Tawnykit, you are now six moons old. From this day on, you will be known as Tawnypaw. Your mentor will be Echosong, to be our newest medicine cat. I have the utmost confidence she will teach you everything you know.”

“She already has!” Juniperpaw’s voice rang out from the crowd. Simultaneous glares from Brambleclaw, Cherrytail, Leafstar, and Brackenfall silenced him almost immediately, and he ducked his head as Tawnypaw flushed under her fur, though an undercurrent of pride flecked her humility.

“Echosong, you have learned from from the best medicine cats Starclan has to offer, and we look forward to you sharing your secrets with Tawnypaw.” Leafstar’s eyes twinkled with a hidden mirth that caused Echosong to look to the sky as she walked forwards. She and Tawnypaw touched noses, and sat down next to each other.

Hawkkit shivered. He was now the only one left in front of Leafstar.

“Hawkkit,” Leafstar looked him square in the eye. “As with your siblings, you have reached six moons of age. From this moment on, you shall be known as Hawkpaw.” She paused for a moment, and Hawkpaw sucked in a breath of trepidation. “Hawkpaw,  _ I  _ will be your mentor. It has been far too long since I have last had an apprentice, and I hope I will be able to pass on everything Firestar and Sandstorm taught me to you.”

Hawkpaw gasped as Leafstar strode up to him, and it took a moment for him to realise that he was supposed to touch noses with his leader and now mentor. He was in shock. He was to be Leafstar’s  _ apprentice _ ? A flare of jealousy erupted from Featherpaw’s pelt, but he ignored it, choosing to instead savor the moment as he touched noses with Leafstar.

Around them, the meeting began to disperse, and while a couple cats gave their congratulations to him, Hawkpaw wasn’t listening.

_ I’m Leafstar’s apprentice! I’m going to be the greatest warrior the clan has ever seen! _

However, a cold wind suddenly buffeted him, causing the tom to blink. It was early new-leaf, why was there a cold breeze?

Abruptly, an unfamiliar voice murmured in his ear, making him start.

_ Poison will spread, and the sky will flee. Star and dark shall fall in the river’s path. _


	4. Chapter 4

_ What? _

Featherpaw was in shock, staring at her brother, Hawkpaw. He was to be Leafstar’s  _ apprentice _ ? Part of her knew she should be happy for her littermate, but she felt a red-hot pang of jealousy curl in her stomach instead. As the clan chanted their names, she could practically feel Cherrytail and Brambleclaw’s pride for him. Not her. Him.

She turned to send a dirty look to Hawkpaw, but froze when she did, part of her jealousy fading away. 

Hawkpaw just stood, staring at the ground in a sort of shock, amber eyes wide as if he was seeing dirt for the first time. Featherpaw frowned, watching as Tawnypaw nudged him, causing the brown tabby to start and reassure her. Why was he acting like that? Wouldn’t he be gloating in her face like he usually did?

“Featherpaw!” 

The brown-and-white she-cat started as she turned to Rockshade, who was giving her an odd look.

“Aren't you listening?” He questioned. “I just asked if you wanted to go and see the territory.”

“Oh, yes!” She exclaimed, forcing any thought of Hawkpaw out of her mind. This was her time, not his. She wasn’t going to let him ruin her first impression on her mentor! “Where are we going?” She jumped up to her feet.

“I was going to show you our borders first,” Rockshade mewed, walking down the gorge and towards the river. “So you don’t accidentally stray into any rogue nests or such. It’s important to know where and where not we hold sway. Got that? No crossing the borders unless a warrior is with you.”

“If you say so.” Featherpaw was already mentally making a plan to sneak outside of the territory in a night or two. Once she got a layout of the territory and the sleeping patterns of her new denmates, it would be easy.

“Follow me.” Rockshade craned his head to a fallen tree that branched out over the river, which served as the bottom entrance to the camp. Featherpaw had never gone on it and made it to the other side before (not to say she hadn’t tried; Cherrytail had eyes like a hawk). He made a small jump to get on top, waiting as Featherpaw struggled for a moment with her smaller size to do the same.

“Aren’t Hawkpaw and Firepaw going to come with us?” She asked when she made it, trying not to focus on the rushing river below her. Rockshade shook his head as they began to slowly walk across the huge tree.

“No,” he mewed. “Usually the mentors show the territory on their own. I expect Leafstar and Nettlesplash will have them either go a different route or show them some basic battle and hunting stances. I thought we’d go this way since that’s what Cherrytail did with me.”

“Cool!” Featherpaw mewed, leaping off the rock and onto solid ground. “Where are we going first?”

“To the Pine Groves,” Her mentor responded. “On our border—” he pointed his tail towards the rising sun. “In that direction. Very good for hunting squirrels, but we’ll touch on that on a later date.”

Featherpaw nodded, and followed her mentor into the forest for the first time.

The day began to blur together after they reached the border, patrolling and remarking it. Rockshade was extremely enthusiastic about showing her every landmark they came across, and no matter how she tried to remember them all, they all just seemed to swarm like bees around her brain. The Pine Groves to the rising sun were good for squirrels… streams could sweep away an unsuspecting apprentice when in the newleaf flood… even the tree where the legendary Firestar had set the first marker for Skyclan’s territory. Though it was well inside Skyclan’s current borders, Rockshade had made sure to show it to her. By the time the sun began to set, she was bone tired and very hungry.

Finally, the gorge began to pull into sight again. Featherpaw couldn’t help but give out a sigh of relief. The day had been busy, but extremely fun as well. For the first time, she didn’t have to banter with Hawkpaw, deal with Tawnypaw’s sarcasm, or have to listen to Firepaw whining. It was nice, and Rockshade made it even better with his endless supply of jokes and fun facts. He even let her watch him catch a sparrow for them to share at sunhigh. She was still jealous of Hawkpaw for getting Leafstar, but Rockshade wasn’t half bad either.

“Tired, Featherpaw?” Rockshade questioned as they pulled into camp. This time, they were coming in the opposite side of the way they had exited, down a steep, rocky path. “You haven’t said a word for the last hour, at least.”

“Sorry,” Featherpaw’s jaws parted into a yawn involuntarily. “ ‘M fine. Just a lot to take in, but I’m getting it.”

The black tom chuckled. “Better than me. On my first day out of camp, Cherrytail was practically dragging me back in, I was so tired.”

Featherpaw laughed. “Don’t worry, I have bones of rock!”

In that moment, she tripped over a stray pebble and fell flat on her face.

Rockshade burst into laughter as Featherpaw burned under her pelt. She sat up almost immediately and began to self-consciously groom herself. What an embarrassment! She growled a little bit as her mentor showed no sign of stopping after a couple heartbeats.

“Oh, it’s not  _ that _ funny,” she muttered. Rockshade shook his head, trying to stifle himself.

“That’s what you think. Bouncefire pulled the same stunt when we were apprentices, although he was older by then.”

Featherpaw snorted and pushed ahead of her mentor. Below them, the camp seemed to be in a bit of a commotion, and she tilted her head.

“Hey, Rockshade, what’s going on?”

Her mentor’s voice sounded behind her. “I’m not sure, actually. Why don’t we get down there and find out what’s happening?”

Featherpaw nodded, bounding down at a much faster rate, pebbles spraying behind her as she jumped down into camp. Looking around, she noticed Cherrytail, Clovertail, and Plumwillow sitting together as they watched the kits. With a jolt of mild surprise, she noted Rustlekit, Thrushkit, and Twigkit were all awake now, toddling around the camp with wide eyes while Violetkit was proudly pointing out the few landmarks she had learned during the day. Ashenkit, Owlkit, and Flightkit were all playfighting in a bundle of dark gray, light gray, and brown. Birdpaw, Honeypaw, and Sandypaw were crouched over a mouse and a large squirrel, chatting happily. Featherpaw made a mental note to talk to Birdpaw about her apprentice ceremony later. Hollypaw, Ebonyclaw, and Sparrowpelt were grouped together as well, while Sharpclaw and Nightheart sat apart from the group, watching the camp silently. 

Her eyes caught with her deputy’s for a moment, and she started at the amount of hatred and pain she saw in them. Startled, she wrenched her gaze away, feeling surprised and a bit naked under his piercing glare.

“You alright, Featherpaw?” 

She whipped around to face Hawkpaw, who tilted his head. She blinked in confusion, and he elaborated.

“You felt afraid for a moment. And exposed.”

The brown-and-white she-cat rolled her eyes. Her brother always had an uncanny ability to tell exactly what she was feeling at any given moment, no matter if she showed it physically or not. For Starclan’s sake, he could sometimes tell when she was out of sight!

“It’s nothing,” she muttered. “How was your day with Leafstar?”

“Oh, it was great!” Hawkpaw exclaimed. Featherpaw instantly felt that she had steered the conversation in the wrong direction. “Leafstar took me around the gorge and we got within a tail-length of the Twolegplace! She showed me some basic hunting moves and we ended up bumping into Billystorm’s border patrol, so we went with them for the rest of the day, and I got to hang out with Brambleclaw and Juniperpaw. We came back in time for sun high, and then we ended up staying for the rest of the afternoon. Things were a bit busy.”

“Busy?” 

“Remember the rogues Birdpaw told us about? They came back, and Billystorm and Creekfeather tracked their scents to the end of the gorge, so Leafstar had to talk with them about it. Not only that, but Mintfur went into labor soon after we left. Firepaw hasn’t even been able to leave camp all day, apparently, so Nettlesplash could stay with his mate.”

“Kits? Now?” Featherpaw snorted. “Two warriors, four apprentices, and now kits in two days. What’s next? Ten rogues want to join the clan?”

Hawkpaw laughed. “You can say that again. Want to see the kits? They’re really cute and I think Nettlesplash will let you see them.”

“Sure, why not?” She shrugged. Personally, she didn’t like kits all that much, but hey, soon they’d be apprentices. Maybe she’d be a warrior by then and get to mentor one.

Hawkpaw grinned and bounded up to the caves where the nursery was situated. Featherpaw followed her brother, and came up to the bramble-covered cave. Standing ‘guard’ was Tawnypaw, looking even more exhausted than she and Hawkpaw were, fur ruffled and slightly clumped. She had rested her head on her paws, but raised it as her littermates came into sight.

“Coming to see the kits?” She questioned. “Echosong and Nettlesplash are still inside, but I’m sure you can sneak a peek. They’re really cute.”

“Did you help with the birth?” Hawkpaw asked suddenly, leaning forwards. “Since you’re an apprentice now?”

Tawnypaw shook her head. “Of course not! I watched, and helped Echosong fetch herbs, but she did most of the work.”

“Cool!” Hawkpaw grinned. Featherpaw shouldered past him, brushing past the protective brambles to enter the cave.

The air was thick with the scent of milk. Echosong was looking over several herbs which she was certain Tawnypaw could name off of the top of her head. Nettlesplash was curled around Mintfur, the two mates watching their two new kits at the new mother’s belly lovingly.

“Ah, Featherpaw,” Mintfur murmured tiredly. “You’re here to see the kits? Your siblings have already come.”

“I just got back from exploring the territory.” Featherpaw flicked an ear. “What are their names?”

Mintfur placed her tail gently on one of the kits, a dark gray tom with a lighter splotch on his side. “That’s Shadekit.” She moved the tip to a black she-kit with lighter gray stripes along her tail. “And Tadpolekit. Aren’t they precious?”

“I—yes,” Featherpaw nodded, swallowing the sarcastic remark that she usually would’ve given. “They are a bit cute.”

Mintfur laughed softly. “Classic Featherpaw,” she murmured in a teasing tone. Featherpaw just shook her head. “Only a day out of the nursery and she never wants to return. Were we that bad?” She turned to Nettlesplash for the last question.

“Worse,” Echosong interrupted, padding towards them with several leaves in her mouth. “Your mentor could barely get you back into the apprentice’s den your first day out, Mintfur, and don’t even get me started on you, Nettlesplash.”

Said tom spluttered and tried to defend himself, and Featherpaw turned to leave the den while they were distracted. Exiting the den, she found Tawnypaw tiredly listening to Hawkpaw talk to her about his day. 

“How were the kits?” Her sister questioned, tilting her head as she came into sight. “They're so cute, right? Absolutely adorable!”

“They're alright,” Featherpaw shrugged, sitting down. 

“Well, maybe we could mentor them!” Hawkpaw suggested. “If we work hard enough we could become warriors quicker, and then maybe Leafstar would give one of them to us soon after. It's happened before. Which kit would you mentor? I kinda like Shadekit. He looks tough.”

“That was when Skyclan consisted of, like, ten cats,” Tawnypaw pointed out. Hawkpaw moved to contradict her, but was cut off by his growling belly.

Featherpaw chuckled, stretching. “Who's up for dinner?” She mewed. “I could really go for some shrew right now.”

Tawnypaw nodded, while Hawkpaw drew a paw over his ear in embarrassment. The trio set off down to the fresh-kill pile, which had been stocked high for the evening meal.

As they made their way down, the daylight warriors (plus one apprentice) began their ascent to the top of the gorge and to their twoleg nests. Hawkpaw called out a “good night,” but the others were a bit too tired to really try to say much. Once they were at the pile, Featherpaw caught sight of a large shrew near the top. Grinning, she pulled it off, while Hawkpaw grabbed a rabbit—probably to share with Tawnypaw. Featherpaw glanced around, trying to find a good place to sit, when she caught sight of Firepaw waving his tail at them, alone in a secluded area by a pile of rocks. Checking to make sure that there were no available spots elsewhere, she motioned to her littermates to sit with him.

“How was your guys’ first day?” He asked. Hawkpaw opened his mouth to reply, but Tawnypaw, thank Starclan, shoved her tail into his mouth before he could say anything.

“Tiring,” Featherpaw sighed. “I never knew our territory was so big. There's so much to remember!”

“Don't even get me started on how much you have to remember as a medicine cat,” Tawnypaw muttered. 

“Lucky,” Firepaw muttered, looking slightly envious. “Since Mintfur started kitting, I was cleaning out the elder's den all day. I barely made out it of camp.”

Even Featherpaw had to wince in sympathy. All of them, even Firepaw, had been anxiously waiting for their apprenticeship for moons, and their brother had gotten stuck with cleaning due to plain bad luck. 

However, the light ginger tom looked slightly uncomfortable at the attention, and motioned to Featherpaw’s shrew. 

“Mind if I share with you?” he asked. “I haven't eaten yet.”

Nodding, Featherpaw moved the shrew over, and let Firepaw take the first bite. The four littermates then quieted as they ate. The sun continued to set, sending rays of golden light across the gorge’s rocky walls. 

“You know,” Hawkpaw muttered as he gulped down some of the last remains of rabbit. “Something weird happened during my apprentice ceremony.”

“Mm?” Tawnypaw hummed while Firepaw raised his head in curiousity. 

“Is it being apprenticed to our  _ great _ leader?” Featherpaw questioned, rolling her eyes. “Because we already know that, mouse-brain.”

“No!” Hawkpaw sounded offended. “It was something else. While we were being cheered at, I heard a weird voice in my ear. Did anyone else?”

Featherpaw stared at her brother as if he had grown a second head. 

“I guess not. I didn't recognize it, and it scared the fur right off of me. Went something like:  _ Poison will spread, and the sky will flee. Star and dark shall fall in the river’s path. _ Weird, right?”

Tawnypaw laughed outright. “You just ate too much fresh-kill or something. Honestly, hearing voices. Just weird. You sure you aren't crazy?”

“Quite,” Hawkpaw responded curtly.

“Why would he be hearing voices, though?” Firepaw questioned. “None of us heard anything.”

“Yeah, it's called hearing voices in your head,” Featherpaw rebutted. Firepaw quieted. Tawnypaw shook her head. 

“Don't be so mean, Featherpaw,” Firepaw spoke again. “Everyone should be given the benefit of doubt.”

Featherpaw snorted, shaking her head. Hawkpaw was silent, now looking a bit contemplative as he thought.

“There you four are!” The littermates blinked almost in unison, turning to see Cherrytail, Brambleclaw at her side, striding up to them. Their mother purred at the sight of her kits, making Featherpaw wince. They were apprentices now!

“How was your first day?” Brambleclaw asked, looking almost as excited as if it was if his own first day out.

“Awesome,” Hawkpaw purred, a yawn interrupting anything else he was planning on saying. 

“The elders were nice,” Firepaw shrugged. “But I didn't do much else. Nettlesplash’s kits are cute, at least.”

Brambleclaw purred, drawing his tail over Firepaw’s shoulder. “Nettlesplash asked me to show you the territory tomorrow, by the way. He's very sorry to have made you wait.”

“He did?!” Firepaw exclaimed, face lighting up. “You'll be showing me the territory?”

“Unless you want someone else to.”

“N-no, I'm fine! You're fine!”

“Why don't you all get to bed?” Cherrytail suggested, looking up at the rapidly darkening sky. “Most of us are getting ready to call it a day as well.”

“That sounds like the best idea since fresh-kill.” Tawnypaw spoke before Featherpaw could protest. She stood, picking up the remains of her meal and moving to bury it. Hawkpaw and Firepaw stood up as well. Sighing, Featherpaw followed suit, shaking out her pelt as she followed her siblings to the apprentices den, saying their good nights to their parents as they did so. Tawnypaw followed the two warriors, in the general direction of the medicine den.

“Where do you think we'll be sleeping?” Hawkpaw mused. Featherpaw shrugged. 

“I could care less, as long as I have a nest,” she replied, entering the den.

Already, Birdpaw and Juniperpaw were inside. The cream tom lifted his head sleepily as the former purred at their presence. 

“We made some nests for you over there,” Birdpaw mewed, pointing her tail at said items. “Who are your mentors? You promised to tell me.”

“Tawnypaw got Echosong, of course,” Featherpaw shrugged, moving towards her nest. “Firepaw has Nettlesplash, I got Rockshade, and Hawkpaw was  _ blessed _ with Leafstar.” It was hard not to keep the jealousy out of her mew. 

“Really?” Juniperpaw mumbled into his moss. “I guess we should all hail the leader's apprentice, then. All hail Hawkpaw. Woo.”

“Well, you all have wonderful warriors as mentors,” Birdpaw put in, ignoring her denmate. “Rockshade is one of the best hunters in the clan, and Nettlesplash is one of the kindest. Good luck to all of you. You're going to need it.”

“Whatever,” Featherpaw muttered, too tired to exchange in her usual pleasantries. Not even bothering to say good night, she curled up in a random nest. She was asleep before her head even hit the moss.


	5. Chapter 5

Everything was quiet. A gentle breeze waved through the forest, making the leaves rustle in the trees.

Hawkpaw crouched, ears angled as he tracked the prey before him. It was a large rabbit, big enough to feed three or four cats. If he caught this, he'd be recognised for sure! Leafstar would be so proud!

The rabbit was munching on its food, too focused on it to notice the young tom creeping up on it. Hawkpaw bunched his muscles, preparing to pounce. He was actually going to catch it!

Suddenly, a twig broke, and the rabbit's head shot up and it scrambled away. Hawkpaw gave a cry of distress and bounded after it, but it was too late. It was gone. Hissing, he whipped around to where the disturbing noise that had scared off the rabbit, unsheathing his claws. Whoever had made him lose that prey was going to get it!

“I wouldn't do that if I were you. Are all Skyclan apprentices such bad stalkers?”

Hawkpaw started, crouching down in what he hoped was some sort of battle stance as a cat emerged from the brush. He had mottled tabby gray fur, with piercing blue eyes. Stars speckled his fur.

“I was hunting just fine, thank you very much,” He replied, standing up. The tom wasn't attacking him, and he held an air of authority around him that made him want to stand. Suddenly, an abrupt realisation came over him. “Wait a minute… Am I dreaming?”

The tom’s whiskers twitched. “What do you think?” He challenged. “Use your head, kit.”

Hawkpaw frowned. “I get it, alright? Who are you?”

“You may call me Jayfeather,” the gray tom replied. “And no, I am not a figment of your imagination.” More under his breath, he added: “Was I this idiotic as an apprentice?” 

Hawkpaw frowned, sitting down as he tried to piece this together. He was certainly dreaming, since the last thing he remembered was going to bed with the other apprentices. Then he ended up here, with a starry tom bombarding him with questions. 

“Are you a Starclan cat?” He burst, eyes wide. Didn't they only come to medicine cats and leaders? But then again, that was the only solution he could think of. What else could there be? His mind was whirling, and on instinct, he reached out to the tom. 

Jayfeather’s mind was awash with different emotions. A sense of duty, sadness, some emotion he couldn't identify, and a streak of jealousy littered his mind. Curious as to whether this cat was real or not, he pushed deeper than he usually did, past just grazing the surface, and then:

_ “Make it count, Icepaw.” _

_ Blood. Pain. He couldn't see, but his four other senses were overloaded with information. Cats clawing on him, blood dripping off his pelt as he fought at least three enemies at once. A fiery determination flared inside of him, a sense of duty to his clan and to keep them safe.  _

_ A tom’s voice rang through the fight. _

_ “Minnowtail! Get the apprentice!” _

_ “NO!” He roared, and suddenly, there was light. He could see! _

_ The sun was setting, sending cascades of golden beams across a river so large he could barely see the other side. Four cats surrounded him, and one was breaking off to race away. Feeling a renewal of strength, he thrust himself through the throng, fur ripping off his pelt to to create even more wounds. He tackled the she-cat, bowling her over, knowing he had to hold them off just long enough for Icepaw to escape— _

“GET OUT!”

And abruptly, he was wrenched away from the scene, thrust back into his own body with a bang. Hawkpaw gasped, stumbling on his paws, then falling onto his hindquarters. 

He glanced up, more than a little horrified, to see Jayfeather shaking almost violently. His unsheathed claws tore at the ground, and his eyes fell on Hawkpaw, who curled into himself in a sudden fear. 

“What in the Ancient’s name…” the tabby tom ground out. He trailed off, then picked up again. “You will  _ never  _ do that again, understand?” 

“I-I don't—” Hawkpaw’s voice cracked, but he was cut off before he could continue. 

“Do. You. Under. Stand,” Jayfeather hissed. It suddenly dawned upon Hawkpaw that although he was the same size as the small tom, the starry cat was extremely intimidating.

“I understand,” Hawkpaw whimpered, flattening his ears and lowering his head.

“Good.” Jayfeather seemed to calm down slightly, his breathing slowing. “That's why I'm here to talk to you today, Hawkpaw. Because of  _ that _ .”

“Be-Because of what?” Hawkpaw echoed, crouching down submissively. 

“ _ That _ ,” Jayfeather hissed, ears flat. “You going into other cats’ minds and messing around with them.”

“Huh?” Hawkpaw still didn't fully get it. “You mean I need to stop sensing other people? Why?”

“Yes, that's what I meant,” Jayfeather strode towards him. “Come on now, surely you've noticed that you're different from the other cats.”

“I'm different?”

“For the Ancients’ sake,” Jayfeather hissed. “Yes, Hawkpaw. You are a very slow tom, you know that?”

“No I'm not!” He protested; however, a tendril of doubt began to whirl in his stomach. He had never really thought of his ability. Featherpaw would sometimes comment on how it was annoying, but… “Am I?”

“Yes, you are,” Jayfeather sighed, padding forwards. “Hawkpaw, you have a very special gift that no other cat has. One you  _ shouldn’t _ have.”

Hawkpaw blinked, trying to figure everything out. He was different? Why?

“Why?” He questioned, echoing his thoughts.

“Now, that is a question for another time,” Jayfeather snorted. “And no, don't ask why for that, either! Apprentices these days. You all never know when to shut up.”

Hawkpaw frowned, scraping his claws against the ground, but silenced. Part of him wanted to delve back into Jayfeather’s mind, but he refrained, not wanting to risk Starclan’s wrath. 

“What am I supposed to do with my ‘power’ then?” He finally spoke the biggest question on his mind. “It's not like I can really control what I do.”

“Yes, you can,” Jayfeather responded. “To an extent. For example, you had to try to get into my head, didn't you?”

Hawkpaw nodded, and Jayfeather flicked an ear.

“It should be obvious that you shouldn't be doing anything like that. And try to keep your powers private. It makes handling everything for me a lot easier.”

“I…” Hawkpaw frowned, but dipped his head slowly nonetheless. “I will, but I don't get why. Why should I have to hide my powers?”

Jayfeather frowned suddenly. “We don't have time. Listen.” He abruptly leaned in close to Hawkpaw, voice changing as he did so, as if a dozen cats were speaking at once. “Remember:  _ Poison will spread, and the sky will flee. Star and dark shall fall in the river’s path. _ ”

“Can’t you just give me a straight answer?” Hawkpaw burst, impatience overflowing. However, he received no reply, and Jayfeather’s form suddenly faded into the wind. 

_ “Hawkpaw…” _

The brown tabby looked around. The scene of the forest he had been dreaming in was rapidly falling apart into blackness. He looked around to try and find the source of who had called to him.

“What? Who's there?”

_ “Hawkpaw! C'mon, it's time to get up!” _

* * *

Hawkpaw gasped suddenly, amber eyes flying open as he scrambled in his nest, trying to find his bearings. His vision fell into place, and he started to calm when he confirmed that he was, indeed, in his own nest. Leaning over him was Birdpaw, her black pelt still unkempt from sleep.

“Wha?” He questioned, parting his lips in a yawn. “What is it? What's happened?”

Birdpaw nudged him with her paw. “Dawn patrol,” she whispered. “And be quiet! Everyone else is still asleep.”

“Dawn patrol?” Hawkpaw echoed. His mind was still reeling over the contents of his dream. Had he seriously just been visited by a Starclan cat? Who was Jayfeather, anyways?

“Yes, mouse-brain.” Birdpaw rolled her eyes good-naturedly. “One of the  _ many _ chores that comes with being an apprentice. Come on, we can't keep Leafstar waiting.”

“I'm coming.” The brown tabby stood up and stretched, shaking off a couple scraps of moss from his fur.

Birdpaw nodded, waiting patiently as Hawkpaw got out of his nest. Stepping carefully to avoid Honeypaw’s splayed paws and Firepaw’s tail, he fluffed out his fur as a cold early morning gust of air drew the air out of him. Down at the bottom of the gorge, Sharpclaw, Leafstar, Shrewtooth, and Bouncefire were conversing quietly.

“I got Hawkpaw,” Birdpaw called to the group of four, jumping down to them. Hawkpaw hurried to follow her. 

“Hawkpaw,” Leafstar nodded pleasantly. “Sleep well?”

The brown tabby’s mind blanked for a moment. Should he tell his mentor and leader of his dream? 

_ No,  _ a voice in the back of his mind murmured.  _ Not here. Jayfeather said to keep it a secret. _

“It was alright,” He finally replied. 

Bouncefire yawned, rolling his shoulders. “Let's get going. I’m still trying to wake up; Honeypaw has an assessment today.”

Leafstar nodded in understanding. “I'll lead. You'll set the rest of the patrols, Sharpclaw?”

The ginger tom nodded curtly, and Hawkpaw felt the hairs rise on his spine as he felt his deputy’s gaze rake across him. A stab of dislike and jealousy sparked off of his pelt, and Hawkpaw hurried to move next to Leafstar as they set out to the border. He would never get used to the Skyclan deputy. What did Leafstar see in him? 

They passed the Rockpile as Leafstar lead the way out of camp. The rocky ground of the gorge soon turned into soft dirt as they passed into the forest. The group was silent for a while, too tired to really carry a conversation in the early morning air. The first border marks were set, and Hawkpaw made sure to study the territory he passed, wanting to memorize his territory as soon as possible so he could impress Leafstar. 

“Hawkpaw,” Said she-cat spoke suddenly, making him start. “Can you scent anything?”

The brown tabby frowned, then opened his mouth like he had seen the other warriors do, taking a deep breath and letting the scents of the forest enter.

“Um… cats, but they're stale, so last night's dusk patrol, maybe? And some mouse, and…” He frowned as an unfamiliar scent hit his tongue. It was sharp and tangy in a disgusting sort of way, making him twist his face in confusion and disgust. “Something else. I haven't smelled it before, but it's not good.”

Leafstar nodded approvingly. “Good job for a first time. Birdpaw, what is the scent that Hawkpaw can't identify?”

The she-cat nodded and took a deep breath of her own. “Fox, Leafstar. Maybe a couple hours old.”

“And how do we deal with foxes?” Shrewtooth put in, eyeing his apprentice approvingly. 

“Avoid it for now, and send a patrol to deal with it later,” Birdpaw recited easily. “And avoid the area until it's chased off. It's dangerous to take on a fox without preparation.”

Hawkpaw filed away the information, pricking his ears for any sign of the fox. Bouncefire flicked his tail on him gently as he did so. 

“You don't need to worry yet, Hawkpaw,” he reassured. “There aren't any new scents of fox around, so it's more likely deeper in the territory and farther away from us.”

“It's good to be on alert, though,” Shrewtooth added. He still seemed to still be on guard, and prickles of fear spiked off his pelt every now and again. “Foxes are sly creatures. They look like a dog but act like a cat.”

“Both of you are correct,” Leafstar commended the two warriors. “Let's keep on going. We have a ways to go before we can go back to camp.”

“Lead the way, Leafstar.” Shrewtooth nodded, and they moved again, walking along the border. 

The sun rose steadily up the horizon, elongating the shadows of the trees around them as light began to filter through the trees. The whole time Hawkpaw just couldn't get his dream about Jayfeather out of his head. And more than that, he had three essential questions:

Why did he have this ‘power’?

Why shouldn't he tell anyone about it?

And who in Starclan’s name _ was _ Jayfeather? He had never heard the name before, not from Patchfoot’s stories nor the clan. Why was it some unknown tom had visited him, and not Skywatcher or some other famous Starclan cat?

Those questions whirled in Hawkpaw’s mind, even as he tried to stay focused on the patrol at hand. As such, when Leafstar suddenly stopped, he had to scramble to not bump into her. Frowning, he righted himself and moved around her with Birdpaw by his side, wanting to see what he had missed.

Almost at once, he was assaulted with a horrible smell, causing him to wrinkle his nose. Bouncefire swore as they saw what was before them.

“Starclan’s name…” the ginger tom muttered. “Who did this?”

It was several small piles of the remnants of prey, dumped by the trunk of a tree just inside the border. Hawkpaw gagged slightly and he glimpsed Birdpaw having to look away. He couldn't even tell what species the prey had been, they were so torn apart and rotten. Leafstar moved in front of him after a moment, blocking his view of the scene. 

“This was recent,” she announced. “Shrewtooth, Birdpaw, try to track the rogues. If you spot them, don't engage if you don't have to; report back as soon as you see anyone. Bouncefire, can you dispose of this, please? Hawkpaw, come with me, we can finish the patrol.”

Shrewtooth nodded, hissing quietly to himself. “This is the third time this moon!”

Hawkpaw blinked, surprised. The third time? Birdpaw had mentioned rogue scents before, but not anything to this extent. An uneasy feeling rose in his belly as he followed Leafstar away from the scene and further along the border. A short silence feel between them as they left the earshot of their clanmates. 

“I'm sorry you had to see that,” the brown-and-cream leader muttered. “We've been having problems with some mischievous rogues recently. I didn't want keep you there too long in case they were still around. You haven't had any battle training yet.”

Hawkpaw couldn't help but bristle slightly at the notion of being called weak. He could defend himself! However, he kept his mouth shut as he felt Leafstar’s sincerity and worry for him through the air. 

“Shrewtooth said that this wasn't the first time something like this has happened,” he questioned. “What did he mean by that?”

Leafstar stopped briefly to set a marker. “We've had this happen to us on several occasions. Probably it's just some young rogues or kittypets playing some kind of prank. Nevertheless, we need to be careful. Just in case they have malicious intentions.”

Hawkpaw nodded, but cocked his head, slightly confused. “But can't rogues join the clan? I mean, I remember when Nightheart, Juniperpaw, and Brackenfall joined the clan, and Hollypaw and Lakestream are new daylight warriors. Why would they join but other cats like these do such bad stuff?”

“Some cats just don't like living and working with other cats in the kind of ordered structure,” the elder she-cat flicked an ear. “And that’s fine. We should respect them. But other cats, they just don’t understand why cats should live together, so they think it’s funny to treat us like this.”

“Why don't we just chase them off of our territory?”

“They don't know what they're doing, Hawkpaw. Many of them simply just don't know any better. If possible, we'll try to talk to them peacefully. If they don't back down,  _ then _ we will attack.”

Hawkpaw nodded, trying to understand what his mentor. His mind flitted back to his dream. Should he tell Leafstar about this ‘Jayfeather?’

_ Try to keep your powers private. It makes handling everything for me a lot easier. _

The gray tom’s voice echoed in his ears, and he decided to keep his mouth shut. Just for now.

* * *

Hawkpaw was sore everywhere. The late afternoon sunlight warmed his dark tabby fur as he laid out on the rocks. The day had been the busiest he had ever experienced. After the dawn patrol, he had gone hunting with Leafstar, Featherpaw, and Rockshade for the morning. It'd taken almost until sunhigh, but had managed to catch an old shrew (he still had a warm feeling in his belly when he thought about it). After a quick meal, he'd had battle training with Hollypaw and Patchfoot, learning the basics of fighting. His body  _ still _ hurt from where Hollypaw had pounded him into the ground round after round. And he was a daylight apprentice!

Still, though, he was more than happy to have the day over with. Stretching over the rocks, he yawned lazily as he watched Harveymoon and Macgyver teach Rustlekit and Twigkit mossball near the nursery. By the fresh-kill pile, Tinycloud, Sagenose, and Creekfeather were talking cheerfully over a mouse and rabbit.

“How was your day?” Hawkpaw looked up to see Tawnypaw padding over to him, smelling sharply of lavender. He wrinkled his nose. 

“You smell,” He muttered. “And yeah, it was pretty cool. I caught a shrew this morning with Leafstar. Where did you get that stench?”

Tawnypaw flicked an ear self-consciously. “Is it really that bad?” she murmured. “Echosong took me to see the territory, and we ended up gathering borage for Mintfur. I fell into a lavender patch while doing so.”

Hawkpaw chuckled, causing Tawnypaw to cuff him over the ear. He somber, though, as his dream came back to mind. It hadn't gone away all day, and kept on making him look over his shoulder, as if he was being watched. 

He could tell her, right? He had already told her and his littermates that weird sentence he had heard during his ceremony. Why not this? 

_ Oh, for Starclan’s sake! I'll just tell her! _

“Have you ever heard of a cat named Jayfeather?” He blurted out. Tawnypaw blinked, giving him a confused look. 

“No…” she replied. “Do you mean Creekfeather?”

“No,” he shook his head. “ _ Jay _ feather. Prefix Jay. I had a weird dream about him last night.”

“Too much fresh-kill?”

“No! You were with me, Tawnypaw. We shared that rabbit, remember?”

“Oh, yeah. What was this dream about?”

“It started off normal. I was hunting a rabbit, but then he appeared and scared it off. He started going on about ‘powers’ and the like, and how I had one.”

Tawnypaw blinked, skepticism tinged with curiosity and surprise flickering off of her. “You mean, like how you can always seem to tell how others are feeling? We always thought you were a bit off the deep end.”

“Hey!” Hawkpaw exclaimed. Fear prickled in his belly. His siblings thought he was crazy? Did anyone else? “Was it that obvious?”

“Not really. Firepaw, Featherpaw, and I only noticed because we were around you all the time. Cherrytail and Brambleclaw, maybe, I don't know. It was all in the little things. So, to recap, you had a weird dream cat tell you you had powers.”

Her sarcastic flair was not missed, and Hawkpaw flexed his claws.

“It's not like that, Tawnypaw! Well, kind of… not really, alright? He was  _ real _ , I could tell!”

Disbelief was practically dripping from the air, causing Hawkpaw to scowl. 

“Come on, I know you don't believe me! At least say that outright!”

Tawnypaw looked abashed, but before she could respond, a rather large mossball flew at her head. She blinked, surprised, as Ashenkit and Owlkit raced up to them, the latter gasping for breath.

“Sorry!” The gray tabby apologised, scooping up the mossball. Hawkpaw noted Flightkit following her littermates at a slower pace. “I hit the ball too hard. We were getting too into our game, I guess.”

“It's fine,” Tawnypaw purred, relief flooding off of her pelt. “How's your day been? It's been quiet without you waking up every other hour, Ashenkit!”

Said kit ducked her head in embarrassment, but laughed nonetheless. Flightkit flicked an ear as she reached the four. 

“It’s boring without you four,” she complained. “All Ashenkit and Owlkit want to do is play mossball, and Violetkit, Twigkit, Rustlekit, and Thrushkit keep on getting under my paws. We can't even hang out in the nursery anymore; Mintfur won't let us in thanks to Tadpolekit and Shadekit.”

“Aww, you love us, Flightkit, we know that!” Ashenkit exclaimed, licking her sister, who pulled away almost immediately.

“Thank you, Flightkit. I feel so appreciated righted right now,” Owlkit deadpanned. Tawnypaw laughed. 

“Here, I'll play with you guys, alright?” Tawnypaw offered, standing up. “Hawkpaw is really tired, but I can play.”

The brown tabby blinked, surprised, but Tawnypaw sent him a look to stay quiet.

“Really?” Owlkit grinned, while Ashenkit laughed. 

“Awesome!” She squealed, rushing off to the nursery. “Let's go!” Owlkit sped after her, not wanting to be left behind.

Tawnypaw looked at Hawkpaw, who stared back at her in shock. She didn't even want to hear him out…

“Just… forget about this Jayfeather guy,” the tortoiseshell sighed. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

And with a flick of her tail, she was gone, leaving Hawkpaw feeling sick to his stomach. 


	6. Chapter 6

“She almost has you, Juniperpaw! Use the moves I taught you!”

Featherpaw watched the spar as front of her intensely as Brambleclaw shouted instructions at his apprentice, who was locked in a training spar with Honeypaw. The cream tom wriggled under Honeypaw’s grip, eventually squeezing away by batting at her belly. He rolled away, and the two apprentices separated for a moment to catch their breath.

“Are you keeping up with them?” Rockshade asked, shooting his apprentice a sidelong glance. Featherpaw nodded.

“Well enough,” she answered. _ But I have no idea what they're doing half the time. _

“Don’t worry,” the black tom purred. “Honeypaw’s six moons ahead of you in training, Juniperpaw four. You don’t have to know what they’re doing, just watch their moves carefully.”

“Honeypaw’s already at six?!” Featherpaw exclaimed, surprised. Rockshade smiled knowingly while Bouncefire shot them a quieting look as Juniperpaw and Honeypaw launched at each other again. “She’s been an apprentice for as long as I can remember. It’s odd thinking of her, Birdpaw, and Sandypaw becoming warriors.”

“They did become apprentices when you were very young,” Rockshade conceded as Juniperpaw tackled Honeypaw. “They’re nearing their warrior assessments, in fact.”

“That’s weird. The apprentice’s den is going to feel empty once they’re gone.”

About three-quarters of a moon had passed since Featherpaw, Tawnypaw, Hawkpaw, and Firepaw had been apprenticed, and life in the clans had carried on as normal. Featherpaw herself had improved in leaps and bounds (Rockshade’s words, not hers) in hunting, while Hawkpaw was better at fighting. Tawnypaw rarely even took the time to see them anymore, she was so busy (though sometimes she seemed to be avoiding her and Hawkpaw), and Firepaw was… well, Firepaw was Firepaw.

With nine apprentices in the clan, she was rarely alone. With such a big clan to protect and provide for, she always was learning one task or the other, or doing some other sort of chore. This morning, she was watching a training battle between Juniperpaw and Honeypaw. Though the she-cat had been training longer, Juniperpaw was older, thus leaving the two apprentices fairly evenly matched.

And now Honeypaw, Birdpaw, and Sandypaw were going to become warriors? It just felt weird, to think of not having Birdpaw’s help while hunting or Honeypaw’s tips during battle. She would even miss Sandypaw, even if he was almost as bad as Stormheart when it came to the size of his ego. 

“Don’t worry.” Rockshade nudged her out of her thoughts. “It won’t be like they’re leaving forever. They’ll just be across camp, in the warriors’ den. Just a short walk away.”

“I guess,” she murmured, just as Honeypaw caught Juniperpaw in a stronghold. 

“That's enough, you two,” Brambleclaw called after a couple moments. “Juniperpaw, you lost. I thought I taught you to think ahead in battle!”

The cream tom grunted in annoyance as Honeypaw got off of him. He stood up, shaking the sand off of his pelt. 

“I almost had her!” He complained as the light ginger she-cat purred in a mix of amusement and pleasure. “Just a couple more minutes, and—”

“You would still be in her grip,” Brambleclaw interrupted the arrogant tom. “Come on, it's time to clean out the nursery.”

Featherpaw snickered at the horrified look on her denmate’s face, though they both would be suffering through the same chore. At least she would have a friend while doing it.

Bouncefire nodded approvingly at Honeypaw, who purred happily.

“Well, Honeypaw has a her hunting assessment next, so I guess we'll be off. Have a good day,” the ginger tom spoke, nodding to the other four cats. He motioned to his apprentice, and they bounded down one of the side paths and into the forest. Brambleclaw flicked his tail as they left. 

“How about you two go and change the moss in the nursery? Firepaw and Hawkpaw should have collected all of the moss already,” he directed to his daughter and apprentice. “So all you two need to do is change it and get prey for the queens. Not too hard, is it?”

“Blergh,” Juniperpaw stuck out his tongue, making Featherpaw chuckle. Brambleclaw shot them a warning look, however, shutting them up effectively.

“Don’t be too hard on them,” Rockshade shook his head, nudging Featherpaw with a paw. “Now it’s time for you two to get to work. You can have the rest of the day off if you want.”

“Really?!” the two exclaimed, and the black tom nodded. Featherpaw jumped to her feet, bounding past Juniperpaw excitedly.

“Come on!” She cried. “If we get this done quick, I’ll be able to take an afternoon nap!”

The cream tom just smiled and leaped up to join her, scrabbling slightly on the rocks she had reached easily. Together, they padded ahead of their mentors and into camp, which was slightly empty, with most of the patrols having been sent out already. However, she could still see Sagenose and Sparrowpelt sharing a bird near the fresh-kill pile, which was now practically empty. Shrugging to herself, she bounded past them and towards the nursery, on the opposite side of camp.

Hawkpaw and Firepaw were already there, the latter scooping up the moss his brother was molding it into balls for them. The ginger apprentice glanced up at their arrival, ears perking up as he did so. 

“Featherpaw! Juniperpaw!” He exclaimed. “You're here! We can leave now, Hawkpaw!”

“Wow. I feel_ so _appreciated right now,” Juniperpaw drawled. 

Hawkpaw rolled his eyes. “Very funny,” he replied, dropping the last ball of moss. “We haven't been able to train at all yet.”

Featherpaw shrugged, turning away from her siblings and ducking into the nursery. Almost immediately, she was hit with the smell of milk and borage, making her wrinkle her nose uncomfortably.

“Featherpaw! Featherpaw! Are you here to play?”

The brown-and-white she-cat looked down to see a small gray kitten with a lighter splotch on his side bounce up to her. Barely a moon old, he pounced on her with kit-soft paws.

“You're getting bigger, Shadekit,” she remarked, shaking off his attack easily. “It's been a little while.”

“Don't forget me!” Another gray she-kit stumbled after her brother, looking as if she had just awoken. “Don't leave me out of any training!”

“I'm not here to train, Tadpolekit,” Featherpaw glanced down at the two littermates. At the same time, her ears flicked backwards to catch the sounds of Juniperpaw entering after her. “Just cleaning out the den for you guys.”

“Aww,” The two kits chorused. Behind them, Mintfur padded up, licking the top of their heads lovingly.

“Go outside, you two,” she purred. “Flightkit and Rustlekit know a few moves to teach you.”

“Oh yeah!” Tadpolekit’s tail shot up straight into the air. “C’mon Shadekit, Firepaw’s been them a few battle techniques!”

The gray she-kit barely stopped to let Shadekit process what his sister had said before she sped off and out of the nursery.

“W-wait for me!” The small kitten exclaimed, toddling after her.

Mintfur sighed lovingly. “They've gotten so big so fast,” she mewed, then beckoned with her tail. “Here, I'll help you with your chores. Anything to get these bones moving.”

“Really?” Juniperpaw said. “Thank you!”

“No problem.”

Featherpaw began scraping up the soiled moss, hissing to herself as she did so. She hated cleaning out the dens. However, Mintfur’s help pushed the chore along, and soon they had gathered up all of the old moss. Juniperpaw lead the way out of the den, and they made their way down to the river. Featherpaw dropped the moss into the water, watching float away down the river.

“Glad that's over with,” Juniperpaw rolled his shoulders, then stretched out his back, which cracked stiffly several times in response. “Starclan, Honeypaw’s made me all sore!”

“She is a good fighter,” Mintfur commented. “You both are pretty even. Don't take it too hard.”

As they spoke, however, Featherpaw’s eyes pulled themselves towards the forest. Some of the bushes were moving, even though there was no wind. She frowned, squinting at them in confusion.

Abruptly, a flash of light ginger fur exploded from the undergrowth, causing Featherpaw to shriek in surprise and almost fell into the river. The blur of fur—a cat, she realised with a rising horror—was streaked in blood as it raced towards the fallen tree, bounding over it as quickly as possible.

“What is it Fea—Oh, Starclan!” Mintfur exclaimed as the cat nearly collapsed on the side of the bridge closest to camp. “It's Honeypaw!”

Featherpaw gasped as she realised what the queen said was true. It was the apprentice she had seen only an hour ago, covered in blood and cuts and gasping for breath. She bounded forwards, worried. 

“Honeypaw!” She exclaimed, licking her older denmate worriedly. “What's wrong? What happened?”

“Where's Bouncefire?” Juniperpaw echoed, for once sounding scared. Honeypaw looked up at them, terrified, but too winded to explain. 

“What's going on?” All three of them turned to see Sparrowpelt’s hunting patrol bounding towards them, heavily laden with prey. Behind the brown tabby were Sandypaw, Sagenose, and Seedtail (Featherpaw knew Seedtail quite well, actually; she was her parent’s closest friend).

“Rogues!” Honeypaw gasped. “I was hunting near the Pine Groves with Bouncefire… they attacked out of nowhere… he told me to run and get help.”

Sparrowpelt swore. “Juniperpaw! Go warn camp! The rest of you, with me!”

The cream tom nodded, and sprinted away towards camp. Sparrowpelt leaped on top of the fallen tree and began to cross, his patrol, dropping their prey on the ground, and Mintfur following. As Featherpaw passed Honeypaw, she caught Sandypaw murmuring to his sister. 

“Don't worry, Honeypaw! Get back to camp; I'll chase these cats right out of our territory!”

Featherpaw spared no more time as she leapt onto the tree and crossed. Soon, they were racing through the forest, and she found herself hard pressed to keep up with the older warriors and apprentice. As she panted, Seedtail fell into step next to her. 

“You alright?” She questioned softly. Unable to reply, Featherpaw nodded. “Be ready to fight when we get there. You may not have a chance to catch your breath.”

Featherpaw gulped, nodding again. The duo fell silent and exchanged no more words as they ran, though Seedtail would send her a reassuring look every now and then. The leaves and twigs underpaw soon became pine needles, and the patrol slowed. Sparrowpelt sent a look to Sagenose, who raised his muzzle in the air and took a long breath. After a moment, his ears swivelled to the right, and they were off again.

Sounds of a scuffle began to be heard, and Featherpaw gasped as she caught sight of at least five cats fighting. With horror, she realised one of them was Bouncefire, writhing underneath the combined blows of four unfamiliar cats.

“Attack!” Sparrowpelt yowled, and the patrol charged forwards, leaping on top of the four rogues, who were now outnumbered by two. Featherpaw found herself with Seedtail again, battling a pure white she-cat. Seedtail and the she-cat launched themselves at each other, and Featherpaw soon found herself feeling outclassed by their superior battle strength and skills. However, she still flitted in and out, nipping wherever she could find room.

At one point, the white she-cat gained the upper paw, and scored her claws down Seedtail’s flank. The spotted she-cat screeched in pain, leaving herself wide open as she did so. Featherpaw yowled in rage, launching herself on top of her opponent and clawing wherever she could reach. In response, the she-cat threw herself onto the ground, crushing the air out of the smaller apprentice’s lungs. As she scrabbled for freedom, the she-cat’s weight was taken off of her as Seedtail rose once again into the fight, now bleeding from one side. 

They began to push back the she-cat, step by step, and Featherpaw couldn't help but feel a rush of exhilaration as they did so.

“Blacktop! Haven! Ripper!” A voice rang out from the battle, and Featherpaw jumped. She had nearly forgotten about what had been occurring around her. She glanced up to see a silvery-gray she-cat with piercing green eyes separate herself from Sagenose and Mintfur. The two littermates glanced at each other, then warily pulled back as well. The white cat did the same, as did a huge black tom with Sparrowpelt and a black she-cat with white streaks with Sandypaw. 

“What is the meaning of this?” Sparrowpelt took charge immediately, spiking his fur threateningly along his spine. Despite a torn ear and cuts along his flank, he still managed to look extremely intimidating.

The she-cat didn't answer, instead looking the senior warrior up and down. 

“Are you this clan’s leader?” She finally questioned. Featherpaw blinked in surprise. She knew about the clan? Then why was she stupid enough to attack them?

“No,” Sparrowpelt responded, not leaving his threatening stance. “Though I am a senior member. Who are you and why are you attacking us?”

“I am Moonlight,” the she-cat responded instead of answering. “This is Blacktop,” the gestured to the imposing black tom. “Haven,” her tail flicked to the white she-cat Featherpaw and Seedtail had been fighting earlier. “And Ripper,” she motioned to the young black and white-streaked she-cat. “Your name is…?”

“Sparrowpelt,” the brown tabby replied curtly. He didn't elaborate on the rest of his clanmates, which Featherpaw appreciated. She didn't know how she would feel with these rogues knowing her name. “Why are you here?” He repeated.

“That is of no importance,” Moonlight shrugged. “Yet. I do hope you'll remember us, though. Sparrowpelt.” She spoke the name slowly, as if testing how it felt against her tongue. “An odd name, but I am not one to judge. When the war begins, _ Sparrowpelt _, remember and look for me. I prefer to know who I'm about to fight and kill. Consider this our… welcoming party.”

Before anyone could react, Moonlight turned tail and sprinted away and towards the border. In only a moment, Blacktop, Ripper, and finally Haven followed. Featherpaw let out a breath. It was over.

Sandypaw didn't seem to have the same idea. He lunged forwards to chase them, snarling, but Sparrowpelt blocked him with his tail.

“Let them go,” he murmured. “We need to check on Bouncefire.”

_ Bouncefire! _

Featherpaw gasped in remembrance and whipped around. Mintfur was already at the ginger tom’s side, frantically licking his blood soaked fur.

“Sagenose, Sandypaw, go find cobwebs!” Seedtail exclaimed frantically, joining Mintfur's side. Sparrowpelt shook his head, causing the other two toms to stop. 

“It's too late,” the senior warrior mewed heavily. Featherpaw’s paws carried her forwards in shock. “He's on his way to Starclan.”

As she watched on, Bouncefire’s eyes flickered open. His sides struggled for breath as he locked eyes with Sparrowpelt. Something seemed to pass between the two toms, and then Bouncefire's eyes closed, and he stilled. Mintfur continued to try and lick him awake, but Seedtail pulled back, tail limp. 

“He's dead,” she announced solemnly.

* * *

“Are you alright?”

Tawnypaw’s voice cut through the haze in Featherpaw’s mind. She felt something being dabbed onto her pelt, but it was easy to ignore. She lifted her head to see her littermates all sitting next to her. Tawnypaw was applying some sort of her to the cuts on her pelt, while Firepaw watched her worriedly. Even the annoying Hawkpaw was there—for once, he and Tawnypaw had forgotten their strange quarrel—a mouse hanging from his mouth. He dropped it at her paws. 

“Here,” He offered. “We've already eaten.”

Featherpaw frowned, not wanting to accept anything from her brother, but finally just shrugged and took a bite. 

“I'll be alright,” she murmured. She was still in a state of shock from Bouncefire’s death. The warrior had been one of the best in the clan. Brambleclaw had once said that he’d be a good candidate for deputy in a few moons, if something happened to Sharpclaw. 

_ What a waste _.

She turned her head to glance at Honeypaw. She had suffered worse wounds than anyone. She was covered in cobwebs, but she could hardly see the elder apprentice through the black and light brown furs of Birdpaw and Sandypaw. The three littermates were all pressed against each other, offering silent comfort in their sister's loss. No words were spoken. 

“There,” Tawnypaw pressed the last of the herbs on her pelt. “I think you were the last one, so I'm done.” She settled into the dirt.

“Who did this?” Hawkpaw questioned quietly as she ate. “No one's really told me anything since Leafstar and I came back from hunting.”

Featherpaw pauses to swallow a bit of mouse. “Rogues,” she hissed, blood boiling just thinking of the cats who had killed Bouncefire. “They were lead by a cat named Moonlight. Seedtail and I almost defeated one of them, some cat named Haven, before they escaped.”

Hawkpaw frowned and stared back at the ground, making Featherpaw tilt her head in confusion. That wasn't much like him at all.

“Well, I'm glad they ran off,” Firepaw declared. “I don't know what I would do if you got hurt. Well, any of you.”

“That cat couldn't have hurt me,” Featherpaw huffed. Hawkpaw snorted. 

“I wonder what those scratches mean, then,” he cheeked, ducking a swipe from his sister.

“Featherpaw! Are you alright?” The four littermates looked up to see Cherrytail and Brambleclaw bounding towards them. Her mother spoke again. “Anything serious?”

“I'm fine,_ Mom _.” The brown-and-white she-cat rolled her eyes. “I was with Seedtail the whole time, remember?”

“Still…” Cherrytail licked her daughter worriedly. “You should have gone back to camp instead of Juniperpaw. You're only a moon into your training!”

“Don't worry,” Brambleclaw ran a tail over his mate’s back soothingly. “I’d trust Seedtail with both our lives and our kits’. She did a good job keeping Featherpaw safe, didn't she?”

“Yes, she did,” the tortoiseshell sighed, then turned to Tawnypaw. “Where is she, anyways?”

“Inside the den with Echosong,” the medicine cat apprentice replied. “Her cuts were pretty deep, so she wanted to keep an eye on her.”

“Oh, dear,” Cherrytail sighed, giving Featherpaw one last lick on the head before darting into the medicine den. Featherpaw watched her go.

“Why do you trust Seedtail so much?” Hawkpaw asked. “I mean, she's pretty awesome and all, but why her?”

“It's a long and very complicated story,” their father sighed. “And one for another day. For now, let it suffice to say that I would be dead several times over if it wasn't for Seedtail and your mother. Or worse. Come on, Leafstar is about to call a clan meeting.”

Featherpaw blinked. That only left her with more questions!

“Let all cats who are old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Rockpile for a clan meeting!”

Nonetheless, Leafstar’s call echoed across the gorge, keeping Featherpaw from questioning her father further. Firepaw stood up, and Hawkpaw and Tawnypaw slowly followed. Finally, Featherpaw herself got to her feet. Pushing the remains of her mouse to the side, she walked over to the Rockpile, where most of the clan had gathered. Her eyes drifted to the center of camp, where Bouncefire's body had been laid for the night’s vigil. Sitting next to the body were Clovertail, Tinycloud, and Rockshade. With a jolt, she remembered that Bouncefire and her mentor had been littermates.

_ What would it be like to lose one of my littermates? _

Featherpaw shoved the thought out of her mind, and forced herself to move past them and to Leafstar. The brown-and-cream she-cat had her head bowed, looking worried but determined at the same time.

“Cats of Skyclan!” She declared. “We have suffered a great injustice today. As you all know, four rogues invaded Skyclan territory, ambushing Bouncefire and Honeypaw during an assessment. While Sparrowpelt and his patrol showed great speed and bravery in getting to the scene in time, Bouncefire later died of his wounds.” Her bowed her head in respected for the warrior, allowing for a moment of silence. “However!” She continued forcefully once that moment had ended. “We have been threatened with war against the rogues. We will not back down against them!

“As such, we must speed up the training of our apprentices and raise our guards. Sharpclaw has brought up the idea of moonhigh patrols, of which I have agreed to implement.”

Featherpaw flattened her ears while Hawkpaw let out a small groan. That was going to be a fun chore.

“Not only this, but we have another item of business. Though it pains me to interrupt such a time of mourning, Sandypaw, Sparrowpelt, may you two step forwards?”

Mentor and apprentice shared a confused look, but stepped forwards nonetheless. 

“Sandypaw, Sharpclaw and I have heard of your valor in battle today, and as such, we will reward you. Sparrowpelt, has Sandypaw learned the warrior code and is prepared to defend Skyclan with his life?”

“H-He is,” the senior warrior stammered, looking torn between shock and pride.

“Then we will proceed,” Leafstar replied. “I, Leafstar, leader of Skyclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in turn. Sandypaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?”

“I do,” Sandypaw nodded. 

“Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Sandypaw, from this moment on you will be known as Sandyclaw. StarClan honors your valor and confidence, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Skyclan.”

“Sandyclaw! Sandyclaw!” The clan yowled. Featherpaw couldn't help but feel a tendril of unease flicker in her belly as she did so, however. This, somehow… wasn't right. She was happy for Sandyclaw, sure, but something just felt off. The ginger-and-brown tom seemed to notice this as well, his eyes flickering uneasily towards where Bouncefire’s body was lying. 

Leafstar raised her tail for silence, and the clan quieted. Featherpaw frowned. Wasn't she done?

“There is one more ceremony I must perform,” She announced. “Honeypaw, may you please step forwards?”

“She needs to give Honeypaw a new mentor,” Tawnypaw murmured in realisation from her place at Featherpaw’s side. 

“Honeypaw,” their leader continued. “We all grieve for the loss of Bouncefire. He was a wonderful and talented tom who taught you to be an exceptional apprentice. However, we can't afford to leave you without a mentor. Waspwhisker,” the gray and white tom blinked in surprise. “You have trained Sagenose and Lakestream well. I trust you to supervise the last days of Honeypaw’s training. Will you take her as your apprentice?”

“Of course I will,” Waspwisker replied.

“Honeypaw? May Waspwhisker take over your training?”

The ginger she-cat nodded numbly. Stepping forwards, the new mentor-apprentice duo touched noses, then drew back into the crowd. Sandyclaw and Birdpaw returned to their sister’s side.

“This meeting is over!” Leafstar announced. “I ask all my senior warriors to meet me in my den.”

Featherpaw watched as Patchfoot, Sparrowpelt, Petalnose, Waspwhisker, and Clovertail joined Leafstar and Sharpclaw by the Rockpile. Glancing over at Hawkpaw, she blinked in surprise as he stood up abruptly and began walking away.

“What's wrong?” Firepaw asked, tilting his head. 

“Nothing…” the brown tabby shook his head. “I just need to be alone. To try and take all of this in.”

Featherpaw snorted to herself, glancing sadly at Honeypaw, Birdpaw, and Sandyclaw. 

_ I think we all need time to take this in. _


	7. Chapter 7

Hawkpaw’s pads thudded against the rocky ground as he bounded up to the top of the gorge. Grunting, he pulled himself up to the grassy plains that separated him and the clan from the Twolegplace. The sun had just started to set, sending rays of golden light across the land.

However, Hawkpaw didn't notice the beautiful sunset, with other things on his mind. The words Jayfeather had spoken to him almost a moon ago now rung in his head, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was what the starry gray tom had meant. 

_ Poison will spread, and the sky will flee. Star and dark shall fall in the river’s path. _

Poison… did that mean the rogues? Was Jayfeather meaning to tell him that the cats who had killed Bouncefire today posed a serious threat? If ‘sky’ meant Skyclan, then were they the ones in trouble? Star and dark and were more vague, and he wasn't sure what they meant yet. It wasn't like the stars could just start falling out of the sky or something.

Or could they?

Hawkpaw lashed his tail at the absurd thought. What was he thinking?! This was all so confusing. He had been given no abnormal dreams since the one with Jayfeather a moon ago, and he was still no nearer to figuring out what the Starclan cat had meant by the prophecy and his “powers.” He was still skeptical if he even had powers! Tawnypaw sure thought he was off the deep end, and had gone out of her way to avoid him after he had tried to convince her of what he had heard. 

“Having trouble, Hawkpaw?”

The brown tabby nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise, letting out a cry of surprise. Whipping around, he came nose-to-nose with none other than Billystorm. The senior warrior tilted his head, and Hawkpaw flattened his ears in embarrassment. 

“Oh, B-Billystorm!” He stammered. “Sorry, I didn't see you there. You scared me.”

“My apologies,” The ginger-and-white tom apologized. “I was on my way home for the night, and I noticed you up here and went to check on you. You did seem deep in thought.”

“It's nothing,” Hawkpaw quickly defended himself. “I'm just… a little taken aback after everything that's happened.”

“I think we all were caught on the wrong paw,” Billystorm agreed. “Bouncefire's death was tragic.” He bowed his head, and Hawkpaw blinked in sympathy. He had known the ginger tom a lot longer than he had. 

“Who were these cats?” He found himself asking after a moment. “Why did they attack us? It's not like we've done anything wrong!”

Billystorm shook his head. “Some cats have different ways of thinking, young one. And in some cases they think everyone has to be like them because their way is best—in their point of view. Often, they'll resort to violence to get what they want. It's a danger you have to accept in becoming a clan cat.”

“Point of view?” Hawkpaw felt lost. “But how can they not see that attacking us is wrong? We're the ones in the right; clan life is the best way to go, isn't it?”

Billystorm shrugged. “It all depends on how you view things. Say, if you were a loner, and suddenly, you hear of a group of cats who are taking all of the prey nearby and attacking everyone in their territory, how would you feel?”

“But we don't attack every cat who crosses our borders! That's stupid. How would get new cats to join the clan?”

“Hawkpaw, just put yourself in that cat's paws. Rumors can change over time. How would you feel?”

The brown tabby frowned, and looked to the now rapidly disappearing sun as he thought. 

“...Threatened, I suppose.”

“And what if you wanted to keep your territory, and hear that this group of cats might want to take it over? What would you do?”

“But we don't—”

“ _ Hawkpaw _ . Humor me, here.”

“I'd be scared. And I'd want to protect my home.”

“Well, there's your answer. The trick is that you have to put yourself in someone else's paws. What do we know about these cats?”

“That they're evil! They kill cats by attacking them unfairly!”

“Not what we assume, what we  _ know.  _ Facts.”

“Um…” His mind blanked. “They unfairly attacked Bouncefire and Honeypaw, and killed Bouncefire by ganging up on him four to one.”

“Do we know why they attacked? Really know why?”

“No…”

“Then should we really jump to conclusions without thinking first?”

“But shouldn’t we stop them?” Hawkpaw flattened his ears. “Bouncefire is  _ dead _ because of them! Why should we sympathize with them?”

“I’m not saying we should!” Billystorm shot back just as harshly. “But it’s critical that we try and figure out why a cat does something than go in blindly. Honestly, you’re just as bad as your mother. It’s how the twolegs—” He suddenly cut himself off, looking hauntedly into the distance. “Nevermind that.”

Hawkpaw frowned, but didn’t press any further. What had he meant about his mother, and why had Billystorm acted so oddly?

“Don’t you need to get back to your twolegs?” He asked instead, noting that the sun had practically set already. “It’s late.”

“I suppose I can do one night without them,” the senior warrior shrugged, tapping Hawkpaw with his tail. “I'm sure Leafstar will be happy to know you're safe as well. She's very proud of you, you know.”

“Really?” Hawkpaw questioned, surprised. He'd been moving at the usual rate of an apprentice. Nothing really special. 

“Of course,” Billystorm replied. He began to pad back towards the gorge. Hawkpaw quickly followed him. “She's very impressed with how quickly you're progressing in battle training. You're almost able to take on Hollypaw, and he's three moons ahead of you.”

“Thanks,” Hawkpaw murmured, licking his chest fur self-consciously. A swell of pride moved in his chest. He had impressed his mentor!

The two began their descent down to the bottom of the gorge. It was now dark, and most of the cats had gone to bed, though Sandyclaw had started his vigil. Hawkpaw blinked in slight surprise as he noticed Tawnypaw and Echosong conversing with Stormheart and Harrybrook. Why were they still up?

“It’s the half moon tonight,” Billystorm murmured, seeming to sense Hawkpaw’s silent question. “Which means that Echosong and Tawnypaw will be going to the Whispering Cave.”

“The Whispering Cave? What’s so special about that?” Hawkpaw found himself confused. The Whispering Cave a small cave that fed the river that flowed through the gorge. It was a great place to find moss; he had just been there that morning collecting some for Featherpaw and Juniperpaw to use in the nursery.

“It hasn’t come up in conversation?”

Hawkpaw shook his head.

“Well, the Whispering Cave is the place where our medicine cats speak with Starclan every half moon. It’s a very important tradition, as they receive insight from our warrior ancestors and warning of possible threats to our way of life.”

“Woah,” Hawkpaw breathed. “That’s so cool.” So maybe tonight Echosong or Tawnypaw would be visited by Jayfeather. Maybe he would tell them about that weird phrase that he kept on telling him. 

“Yes. Tonight will be especially important, as it’s Tawnypaw’s first time to the cave. There, Starclan will accept her formally into their ranks and she’ll become a true apprentice.”

“Why are Harrybrook and Stormheart with them?”

“Another tradition. The newest warriors of the clan will accompany the medicine cats to the cave and guard them as they speak with Starclan. We started it around two leaf-bares ago, when Echosong and Frecklewish were almost attacked by a fox.”

Hawkpaw blinked. “Who’s Frecklewish?” he asked. “I’ve never heard of him before.”

Billystorm’s eyes clouded, and regret seeped from his pelt. The brown tabby flattened his ears as he felt this, instantly knowing he had brought up a bad memory.

“Frecklewish was Echosong’s first apprentice,” he sighed. “Long before you were born. She was a daylight apprentice first, and Echosong had to fight hard to get Leafstar to let her become a medicine cat. She got her full name, but…” He paused for a moment, then went on. “Soon after, she was out collecting herbs with Rabbitleap, then an apprentice, and I. We had gone down the grassy flats up above the gorge, farther than usual in search of yarrow. When we found a patch, Frecklewish was so excited, she didn’t watch where she was going. She accidentally stepped in a snake’s burrow and was bitten. I sent Rabbitleap back for help, but by the time he made it back, she was gone.”

“I’m sorry…” Hawkpaw responded at the story’s end, regretting having asked the question. Sadness was practically pooling around the senior warrior. “I didn’t know.”

“It’s quite alright. It was long before your time. Anyways,” Billystorm shook himself out. “I’m going to get to bed, as should you. We both have a long day tomorrow.”

Hawkpaw nodded, glancing back towards Echosong, Tawnypaw, Harrybrook and Stormheart as they began to quietly leave camp.  _ I wonder what it’s like to be able to dream with Starclan every moon. I’d sure like to ask Jayfeather what he meant in my dream. Lucky Tawnypaw… _

However, his paws carried him back to the apprentices’ den as he shared goodnights with Billystorm, who moved towards the leader’s den. Squeezing past Birdpaw, who had moved her nest closer to Juniperpaw and Firepaw’s since Honeypaw and Sandyclaw were no longer there, he laid down in his nest. Soon, he found himself asleep, still thinking of Tawnypaw and her meeting with Starclan.

* * *

Hawkpaw blinked open his eyes, and instantly realised he was dreaming. It was kind of obvious, actually, considering the forest he had abruptly found himself standing in. The moon was shining brightly overhead, despite the late hour and the fact that it was only half-full.

He looked around, trying to find any sign of cats nearby. This wasn’t any normal dream, that was for sure. Had Jayfeather come back to talk with him? However, he couldn’t see anyone, making him frown in confusion. Abruptly, his ears twitched to the right as a soft murmuring reached him. He raised his head in that direction, and slowly made his way towards them. 

“...danger is coming. Greater than anything Skyclan has ever faced, greater than even your predecessors…”

Hawkpaw’s ears angled forwards as he heard the voice form into words. Ducking under a large brush, he squeezed through the branches, stopping when several cats came into sight through the leaves. Suddenly, he had the feeling that he was  _ not _ supposed to be here, and was very grateful for the branches covering him.

In front of him, he saw Echosong and Tawnypaw, side by side. Talking to them was large dark tom with thick fur, a dark brown tabby tom, and a ginger tabby she-cat. Stars flecked the three unknown cats’ fur. Echosong was very nervous and worried, while Tawnypaw was still rather confident, though undercurrents of fear betrayed her. The Starclan cats were also worried, though they held certainty close to them. 

“Does this have anything to do with the rogues who attacked today?” The tabby medicine cat questioned, shuffling her paws.

“Is Bouncefire alright?” Tawnypaw asked as well.

“Yes, to both of your questions,” the brown tabby answered. He lowered his voice, and Hawkpaw frowned as he couldn’t make out the tom’s next words. “You must find them in order to save the clan,” he finished, raising his voice again.

“What, Spiderstar?!” Echosong exclaimed. “We haven’t had one in moons!”

“The time has come for another,” the gray tom spoke. “You have well exceeded in you calling, Echosong; Tawnypaw, we are sure you will fill her footsteps admirably. We know that you will find the cat who has received this foretelling.”

“Can’t you tell us who it is?” The young tortoiseshell protested. Echosong hurriedly hushed her, embarrassed. 

“I apologise for my apprentice, Skywatcher,” she apologised, though agreement flashed through her. The tom shook his head.

“It’s quite alright,” Skywatcher purred, while Hawkpaw had to stifle a gasp at the name.

_ Is that… Skywatcher? The Skywatcher from all of Patchfoot’s stories?! _

“Skyclan has grown the roots it has needed to survive,” Spiderstar announced. “And now it is time to use them. It has been given to the one who holds the power of the stars in his paws. It is up to you to find this cat.”

“Can you tell us anything more?” Echosong replied. 

“No. But they will reveal themselves in time. The roots you have planted will prove critical in the moons to come. Stay safe. We believe in you.”

Hawkpaw tensed as Echosong and Tawnypaw faded out of existence, alarmed. That was supposed to happen, right? The Starclan cats sure were acting normal about it. He kept himself pressed flat against the ground, hoping to Star—no, not Starclan. To anyone else who could be watching—that he wouldn’t be scented or seen.

The three Starclan cats murmured to each other lowly, before the tabby she-cat shook her head disapprovingly and walked off. Sharing a look, Skywatcher and Spiderstar padded off together, fading into the landscape.

Hawkpaw let out a breath. In some strange stroke of luck, Starclan hadn’t noticed him. He relaxed, sagging into the dirt. Now, he just needed to find a way to wake up and act like this had never happened. He probably wasn’t supposed to have heard any of that conversation, and he didn’t want to get into trouble for it. Sharpclaw’s punishments were bad enough; he could barely imagine what Starclan was like when angered. If they were anything like Jayfeather, he was doomed.

“Hello, Hawkpaw.” 

The brown tabby tom let out a shriek in terror, leaping up into the bramble bush. Immediately, his fur caught in the branches, sticking him in place. He quickly tried to escape, but it was no use. He was trapped.

“Now that is one of the best reactions I’ve seen to someone meeting a Starclan cat. Definitely going down in my memory.”

Hawkpaw burned under his pelt. Reaching out behind him, he could sense amusement coming from a cat behind him. He tried to get out of the bush again, but his fur was just refusing to let him move. He hissed to himself. He didn’t even have long fur! Why was he getting stuck now of all times?!

“Who are you?” He asked. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop! Honestly! I won’t tell anyone about this!”

“I know,” The voice chuckled. The bush shifted, and the branches were slowly untangled from his pelt. After a couple minutes, Hawkpaw found himself untangled from the bush, and he slowly wriggled backwards and out of it to find himself face to face with the ginger tabby she-cat he had seen earlier. He ducked down, flattening his ears submissively.

“Don’t act like that,” the she-cat rolled her eyes, flicking her tail to his side. “Skywatcher and Spiderstar only asked me to guide you home. We’re off the chart. No formalities needed.”

“Oh… okay, then,” he shifted his paws awkwardly. “Who are you?”

“Honeyleaf,” the she-cat answered. “The last deputy of Skyclan before it disbanded seasons ago. You are Hawkpaw, son of Brambleclaw and Cherrytail. Why did you make your way here?”

“I came here on purpose?”

“Of course. We were surprised to see you here when we were delivering our message to Echosong, but not much damage has been done.”

Hawkpaw nodded, relieved he wasn’t in trouble. “I really didn’t mean to end up here. It was an accident.”

“You were thinking about Tawnypaw, weren’t you? That would explain why you entered her dreams. It’s quite astonishing you could do it from such a distance, honestly. Jayfeather will be impressed.”

“Wait, you know Jayfeather?!” Hawkpaw exclaimed, standing up. “Where is he? He visited me in a dream a moon ago and I’ve been wanting to ask him questions about it for  _ ages _ !”

Honeyleaf flicked an ear. “You’ve come at a bad time, then. You see, Jayfeather walks two different skies. Though he does stay with us most of the time, sometimes he has to leave for a little bit. You’ve caught him at one of those times.”

_ You have got to be kidding me! _ “Can’t you call him here or something?” He pressed, desperate.

“I  _ could _ …” Honeyleaf shrugged. “But then I’d be ruining more than one plan. You’re going to have to figure out this by yourself. You can’t always rely on us to solve your problems, you know.”

“But you’re  _ Starclan _ !”

“And  _ you  _ are a disrespectful apprentice who doesn’t know his place. I think we balance each other out.”

Hawkpaw frowned, feeling beaten, then decided to try for at least one of the things that had been bothering him. “Well, I  _ do _ have powers, right? Jayfeather said I did, but Tawnypaw is convinced I’m just crazy.”

Honeyleaf laughed shortly, shaking her head as disbelief and amusement flowed off of her. The Skyclan apprentice raised his head slightly, wondering if he had said something wrong. She wasn’t making fun of him, was she?

“Dear, dear Hawkpaw,” she chuckled, touching noses with him. “How do you think you found your way into Starclan in the first place?”

Before he could answer, everything faded into black.


	8. Chapter 8

“Ugh. I feel like  _ crap _ !”

Featherpaw rolled her eyes discreetly as Stormheart rambled on about how  _ hard _ her vigil over Tawnypaw and Echosong had been, and how her bones now just didn’t feel  _ right  _ after sitting in a moist place for so long. The brown-and-white apprentice took a large bite out of the shrew she was eating, hoping her chewing would drown out the young warrior’s dramatics. Next to her, Firepaw looked just as exasperated, and even Hawkpaw was looking annoyed, despite the oddly cheerful mood he had woken up that morning. Harrybrook, sharing breakfast with his sister, was just plain embarrassed.

“I mean, how do the medicine cats stand it, going in there and sleeping all night every moon? I’m stiff as a board and I was able to move!”

Hawkpaw’s head thudded onto the ground. Stormheart gave him an odd look, but then continued on regardless.

“But in all honesty, I’m glad to have all of these dumb traditions out of the way. Now I can focus on being the best warrior I can be!”

Featherpaw resisted pulling a smart retort. If she was rude to Stormheart, no doubt word would get back to Cherrytail and she’d be skinned alive for “bad-mouthing her elders” again. She was a full apprentice, but she had a feeling that her mother was never going to fully let go of her in that regard.

_ Please, Rockshade, call me for training soon! _

“Ah, Stormheart, why don’t we go and get to bed?” Harrybrook suggested, standing up and stretching with a yawn. “We’ve been up all night and I’m exhausted.”

Stormheart sent her brother an odd look, but nodded her head. “I guess so,” she conceded. “I  _ am _ tired. Sleep sounds nice.”

“Let’s go.” Harrybrook sent an apologetic look to the littermates as he and his sister stumbled off to the warrior’s den. In response he got three apprentices looking at him as if he was a Starclan cat sent down from Silverpelt to save them.

“Oh, thank Starclan!” Featherpaw sighed once they were out of earshot, taking another bite of shrew. “What a breakfast this turned out to be! I was beginning to think that she’d never leave.”

“Well, you have a point,” Firepaw admitted sheepishly. “I mean, Tawnypaw didn’t complain about the trip, and it was her first time, too.”

“But she was learning of the magical mysteries of Starclan. Maybe she was a bit distracted,” Featherpaw snorted. “Though all joking aside, I wonder what happened there. I wish she was allowed to tell us!”

“No doubt it was something about the rogues,” Firepaw replied. “After what happened yesterday, I would expect them to take action about it.”

“Who knows,” the brown-and-white she-cat shrugged, finishing off her shrew. “Well, I’m done. Anyone what to come with me while I bury this?”

“Ew, no,” the light ginger tom stuck out his tongue.

“Nah. Too lazy to get up,” Hawkpaw yawned. “I feel like I’ve been awake for most of the night. Training is going to be  _ fun  _ until I actually wake up.”

“Whatever,” Featherpaw picked up the remains of her shrew and stood up, bounding down the gorge and towards the river. Quickly, she dug a shallow hole and buried the remains of her prey, thanking Starclan internally as she did so. After filling in the hole, she stretched, feeling her back pop, and looked around.

A small crowd was gathered near the Rockpile. Confused and curiosity piked, she padded towards them, catching sight of Seedtail near the edge of the small group. She put on a short burst of speed to reach them in a quick amount of time, slowing to a trot as she came up to her parents’ old friend.

“Hey, Seedtail,” she greeted quietly, as to not disturb the commotion. “What’s going on?”

The spotted she-cat angled her ears towards the center of the crowd. Following her direction, she spotted Leafstar and Sharpclaw talking to several of the senior warriors (Waspwhisker and Sparrowpelt, to be exact), while a couple other warriors around them waited quietly.

“Leafstar and Sharpclaw are sending out a recon patrol after the rogues,” Seedtail explained lowly. “They’re discussing who to take now.” She frowned, licking her flank almost angrily, where Echosong had bandaged the heavy wound she had received the previous day. “I can’t go, of course, because of my wounds. No doubt they won't be taking any apprentices either.”

“Darn it,” Featherpaw hissed, frustrated. Her own scratches were healing nicely, why couldn’t she go?

“You’re a moon into training,” Seedtail murmured strictly. “You shouldn’t have participated in that battle at all. Cherrytail was giving Sparrowpelt a piece of her mind last night, actually, since he sent Juniperpaw back to camp instead of you.”

“I can handle myself!”

Before the spotted she-cat could retort, Sharpclaw spoke up, his voice carrying over the small crowd.

“We’ve decided who to take on the patrol!” He announced. “Leafstar and I have spoken, and decided that our best course of action to take would be to send our fastest cats and best trackers to follow them. As such, Sagenose, Macgyver, Creekfeather, Birdpaw, and Plumwillow will be going on this patrol, lead by Waspwhisker. Any questions?”

“But Sharpclaw!” Featherpaw watched as Sagenose stood up, looking horrified. “Plumwillow is a nursing queen—and my mate, at that! Why has she been chosen for this mission?”

“Plumwillow is the fastest cat in this clan, Sagenose,” Sharpclaw responded cooly. “She is going to be a critical part of the patrol.” At Sagenose’s mutinous expression, he continued. “At the first sign of danger, her job will be to run back to us for help. She'll be safe.”

The pale gray tom simply hissed to himself and padded down to the nursery, most likely to find his mate and inform her of their new assignment.

Featherpaw couldn't help but feel upset as well. Sagenose and Plumwillow were the parents of Ashenkit, Owlkit, and Flightkit, her old friends. 

“I see where Leafstar is coming from, but sending a queen on such a dangerous patrol? No wonder Sagenose is so upset,” Seedtail muttered.

“At least they can go,” Featherpaw huffed. Seedtail shot her a stern look. “They're taking Birdpaw!”

“The only reason Birdpaw isn't a warrior yet is because she's hasn't had a chance to take her assessments—in fact, I think this will count as her assessment. This patrol could last more than a day as well. There is no room for error. This is a dangerous mission, and could take a day or two depending on how far away the rogues live.”

Featherpaw flexed her claws, still upset. Those rogues had killed one of her clanmates! They needed to pay! 

However, Seedtail’s expression left no room for further argument, and she instead stalked off and back towards her brothers. This just wasn't fair!

Hawkpaw and Firepaw were by the fresh kill pile now, talking together and watching as the patrol gathered to set off. As she watched, Tawnypaw and Echosong were passing by her littermates to give traveling herbs to the patrol, and she scowled, feeling another pang of jealousy. As she watched, however, Hawkpaw moved towards Tawnypaw, saying something, but the tortoiseshell simply waved him off and passed by, leaving her brother in the dust.

Hawkpaw made a face at his sister’s back, and turned to see Featherpaw. He bounded over to her, Firepaw on his heels.

“What's going on, Featherpaw?” Hawkpaw questioned. “There's a big fuss by the Rockpile. And Tawnypaw’s just ignoring me, as usual.”

Featherpaw quickly passed on the information about the tracking patrol. Once she finished, Hawkpaw nodded in agreement. 

“I'd be mad too if they didn't go after the rogues. They did threaten us with war, after all. If I was Leafstar, I'd want to get back at them,” Hawkpaw announced. “I'd wish I was chosen to join, though. I'd shred their pelts off!”

“That's what I said,” Featherpaw agreed angrily. “But Seedtail said we're too young and not far enough in our training to go on such a long and ‘dangerous’ trip.”

“Maybe for you,” Hawkpaw unsheathed his claws into the dirt. “But the rogues would be running away from me if I were there.”

“Oh, really? I'm certain that you'd be quaking in your paws if you met them! I've fought them!”

“Please don't fight!” Firepaw interrupted desperately. “We had a streak going! You promised you wouldn't!”

“Too late!” Hawkpaw screeched, leaping onto his sister. Featherpaw let out a battle cry and tackled him as well. They turned onto the ground. Not even bothering to use their newly learned battle moves, they wrestled violently—claws sheathed, of course.

Featherpaw hissed as Hawkpaw hit one of her scratches from yesterday, and bucked upwards, knocking him off. They launched at each other again, and Hawkpaw used his greater siz

e to try and smother her. Featherpaw barely wriggled out in time and scored a blunt blow on his side. The brown tabby then locked her in a hold. Featherpaw wriggled, trying to escape, but her brother was much too strong.

“Give up?” He asked smugly. Featherpaw hissed in response.

“Can you two just stop—uh-oh,” Firepaw suddenly cut himself off. 

“What are you two doing?”

The two littermates separated themselves as quickly as possible, putting a good fox-length in between them as they found themselves facing a very irate Sharpclaw. The two flattened their ears, quarrel almost instantly forgotten.

“Well?”

“Just a disagreement, Sharpclaw,” Firepaw spoke up first. “It wasn't their fault. Hawkpaw and Featherpaw are always fighting. They just don't mix very well.”

“Really, because it seems to me that you three are slacking off here and causing unnecessary trouble,” the deputy hissed, causing Firepaw to practically flatten himself into the ground, intimidated.

“Hey! We weren't bothering anyone!” Featherpaw protested. 

Sharpclaw bore his fangs, effectively shutting the young apprentice up. Hawkpaw looked as if he wanted to follow his sister’s example, but said nothing, obviously thinking better of it. 

“A good part of me wants to confine you to camp for the rest of the day,” the dark ginger tom continued. “Maybe I should follow through with that instinct.”

“Come now, Sharpclaw, you're being unreasonable.”

Firepaw let out a gasp as the three turned around to see Brambleclaw padding up to them. However, his usual light demeanor was replaced with a gruff and commanding air. Featherpaw blinked in surprise. She had never seen her father so serious before.

“They were fighting and causing a commotion,” the deputy snapped back. Brambleclaw flattened his ears. 

“I know you don’t like me, Sharpclaw, but don’t take it out on my kits. This is between you and me.”

The long-clawed tom flattened his ears and growled slightly. “Then control them. I want all three of you to have cleaned out the elder’s den  _ and _ the nursery by sundown. Firepaw, Hawkpaw, Nettlesplash wants you for battle training. Featherpaw, since Rockshade is still recovering from yesterday, you’re free. I suggest you get to work.”

And with that, he stalked off and back towards the other warriors. Featherpaw flattened her ears and made an insulting face at his back.

“But I didn't do anything…” Firepaw whined.

“Don't mind Sharpclaw,” Brambleclaw sighed. “He's just pretty stressed with what's going on right now. He doesn’t cope well with losing a clanmate.”

“So do we have to clean today?” Hawkpaw questioned hopefully. Brambleclaw sent him a stern look. 

“Of course you do. He's deputy. Only Leafstar can overturn his decisions.”

“Fox dung.”

“Don't test me with language like that, Hawkpaw. Now go on, you two. Nettlesplash isn't going to wait forever, you know. Unless you want to get into more trouble.”

Almost groaning in unison, the two brothers stalked off together. Featherpaw couldn't help but snort at the sight of her two brothers, so different in terms of personality and appearance, acting so similar. Then she sighed herself as she remembered the long day of chores that awaited her. 

“Don't worry,” her father soothed her. “You're not the only one who was always stuck with camp chores.”

“Really?” Featherpaw blinked, surprised. Birdpaw, Honeypaw, and Hollypaw were all “model” apprentices, and even Sandyclaw and Juniperpaw managed to get out of punishments most days.

“Sure,” Brambleclaw chuckled nostalgically. His eyes zoned off into the distance, and Featherpaw suddenly had the feeling he wasn't talking to her anymore. “It was practically a family trait in Firestar’s line; he used to get into trouble all the time as an apprentice, and don't even get me started on Squirrelflight. Even Jayfeather would—”

Suddenly the brown tabby stiffened and he cut himself off, looking horrified. His gaze snapped back to his daughter, then around, as if he was worried someone else had overheard them.

“Dad?” Featherpaw asked timidly, not sure if she should press but curiosity taking over anyways. “How did you know that about Firestar? Did he tell you?” Brambleclaw was old enough to have been around when Skyclan had been reformed. Had he been there?

Actually, now that she thought about it, she didn't know if he had been one of the founding members of the clan, like her mother had. Had he joined later on? And if so, how did he know that story?

“Excuse me,” Brambleclaw breathed. Standing up, he quickly bounded away and towards the warrior’s den.

Featherpaw blinked. What was that? And now that she thought about it, who were Squirrelflight and Jayfeather anyways?

* * *

“Where am I?”

Featherpaw frowned, feeling uneasy. She was standing in a grassy field, completely alone. She looked round about her, trying to identify where she was but coming up empty-pawed.

She was dreaming. She didn’t know how she knew this; she just did. The day had gone rather normally after her conversation with her father, save for the fact that she hadn’t trained all day, since Rockshade had yet to leave the warrior’s den. The nursery had been cleaned and she had ended up hanging out with Flightkit and Thrushkit (who, as it turned out, liked to complain about  _ everything _ ) as she did so. The patrol sent out after the rogues hadn’t returned all day, and Ebonyclaw decided to stay overnight to wait for Macgyver in case he came back during the night. By the time the sun had set, Featherpaw had easily went to bed in her nest next to Hawkpaw and Juniperpaw.

So what was this dream? Usually she never noticed that she was dreaming, no matter how ridiculous it would get. She huffed, scraping a paw over the ground. This was boring. Couldn’t she just wake up already?

However, she was dragged out of her thoughts as a scent wafted up her nose.  _ Mouse!  _ She had never hunted in an open field before (the open plains between the top of the gorge and the Twolegplace were more advanced lessons she hadn't learned yet), but she felt certain she could catch it.

Crouching down, she arched her spine and crept forwards, trying to make her paws as light as possible so she wouldn't be noticed. After a couple pawsteps, the mouse came into sight, chewing on a seed. Cautiously, she bunched down on her hind legs, just as Rockshade had taught her, shifting her weight backwards. The mouse twitched at the movements, and Featherpaw froze.

After what seemed like a lifetime, the small rodent returned to its meal, and Featherpaw almost let out a sigh of relief before holding it in. She unsheathed her claws and crunched down just a little bit more before springing forwards with a hiss.

Her paws landed only slightly off of her mark, leaving the mouse stunned but still alive. Quickly, it began to scramble away, and in a panic, Featherpaw lunged at it and snapped its neck. She frowned at the messy kill, but couldn't help but feel proud of her accomplishment, dream or not.

“Good catch.”

Featherpaw whipped around, ears flat as she came face to face with a brown tabby tom with a white belly. He was nearly twice as large as her, making her back away a few steps in fear. 

“I-Is this your field?” She asked, the words coming out before she thought them through, then winced.  _ How would this be  _ his _ field? I'm dreaming! _

The tom didn't seem to notice.

“I visit here from time to time,” he shrugged. “Just like you do.”

“Have you been watching me?” Featherpaw questioned, feeling uneasy. What kind of dream was this?

“Only long enough to see you catch that mouse. A very good catch—you have a lot of talent for such a young apprentice—but your pounce was slightly off. I could show you how to fix that, if you want.”

Featherpaw fell silent, considering it. This tom smelled off, like a forest deep in the night, but he thought she had a lot of talent! She nodded her head.

“Sure,” she replied. 

“Watch this, then.” Crouching, the tom leaped forwards, his back flat and smooth. His flank barely brushed the stems of the tall grass, keeping him as silent as a mouse.

Featherpaw watched in unexpected awe. She had never seen anyone hunt like that before. Skyclan always focused on jumping and climbing to catch prey, not this slow, stealthy way that required creeping close to the ground. 

“You try,” the tom suggested as he stood up. He brought out a moss-ball around the size of a mouse out as bait. “Keeping your spine straight and flat is the trick.”

Featherpaw nodded, determined to get it right. She crouched down, trying to mirror the tom's form. She sprang towards the moss, but when she tried to flatten her spine, fell off balance and stumbled upon hitting the ground. She hissed in frustration.

“No one ever gets this move right on their first try. Do it again,” the tom coaxed. 

She nodded and stepped back two fox-lengths, bent down and sprang again. This time, however, she overestimated the jump, sailing over the moss. Though she landed right, she unsheathed her claws, upset at having failed a second time.

“You nailed the landing. Now just try to put the right amount of power into the jump,” came the gentle encouragement.

Deciding to try one more time, Featherpaw backed off again and took the crouched position slowly, making sure she felt that every muscle in her body was in place before pouncing. She sailed over the stems almost perfectly and caught the ball of moss in her paws, almost as if it had been sent there just in the right place for her to catch it.

“Wow! That's a cool move,” she exclaimed as she sat up. “I'll have to show that to my brothers!”

“Who are your brothers?” The tom asked, before looking around. “Are they here?”

“It's just me.” Featherpaw shook her head. “Their names are Hawkpaw and Firepaw. Firepaw is easily scared and he doesn't like fighting—which I think is stupid. Hawkpaw, on the other paw, is a smart aleck who won’t shut up. Wait until I show them this new move! They’ll be so jealous!”

“Is Firepaw the medicine cat apprentice?”

“No. He can't handle blood very well at all. One time I got a cut and  _ he _ was the one who panicked.” She laughed a bit at the silly memory. She and Hawkpaw had teased him for days after that. “My sister, Tawnypaw, has that role.”

“Hawkpaw the smart-aleck, Tawnypaw the medicine cat, Firepaw the pacifist,” the tom spoke the names, as if testing them on his tongue. He chuckled. “Now that is ironic.”

Someone called in the distance, and Featherpaw felt a tugging in her gut.

“I have to go,” she sighed, disappointed she couldn't stay longer.

“Can you at least tell me your name before you leave?” 

“Featherpaw,” the brown-and-white she-cat answered. “And you?”

“Hawkfrost.”


End file.
